German-style Buildings, Qingdao

The main attraction of the city, for the numerous Chinese summer guests who visit Qingdao, are the houses of the old town that were constructed in the German style.The following buildings and complexes are particularly remarkable:Although the station was reconstructed in the 1920s, the new building was adorned with the facade and the tower of the original German station built in 1900-1901.Until 1914, the main shopping street, Sun-Yat-sen Street, in the old town was called Friedrichstrasse. There are still many of buildings here, for example the sailors' house at the corner of Hubei Lu (Kronprinzenstrasse).A little further north stands St Michael's Cathedral. Although this Catholic church with two towers (54m/177ft high) had a German architect it was not built until 1931-1934 in the Neo-Romanesque style.The riverside walk (Kaiser Wilhelm promenade) runs east from the pier. Several old buildings are preserved, including a hotel and the former headquarters of the German Asiatic Bank.Government House, the largest and most imposing building in the old town, is situated on the southern slopes of Government Hill, facing the riverside walk, with a view of Qingdao Lu (formerly Wilhelmstrasse). It was completed in 1906, and later became the town hall. In 1989 the building was doubled in size by a mirrored copy on the mountainside.The Protestant Christ's Church east of Government House was built in 1908-1910 in the historical German art nouveau style.The most spectacular of the German buildings in town is the Governor's Residence, situated on the slope of Signal Hill. Its interior is almost completely preserved, and today it is a hotel.