Things to do in Qingdao

Neighborhood · Shinan, eastern old town

A district of early twentieth-century villas in a dozen national architectural styles, each street planted with a different flowering tree.

Local tip: Each of the eight streets is named after a Chinese frontier pass and lined with a single species — peach on one, crab apple on another — so the district blooms in sequence through spring. Walk it in April, when the sequence is visible, and go down to the small coves at the bottom rather than staying on the road.

Culture · Shibei, on Dengzhou Road

The original 1903 brewery buildings, still part of a working plant, with the machinery, the archive and unfiltered beer at the end.

Local tip: The tour ends with raw unfiltered beer that is not sold anywhere else, and the street outside — Beer Street — is where locals actually drink. Buy zhāpí in a plastic bag from a barrel shop and eat clams with it; this is the genuine local ritual and it costs almost nothing.

Nature · ≈40 km east of the city, on the coast

A granite coastal massif rising directly out of the Yellow Sea, with Daoist temples on its slopes and the spring water the brewery was founded on.

Local tip: The Taiqing Palace route on the southern side is the one with the temples and the sea views, and it is far better than the northern approaches. Go on a clear day outside the fog season — in June and July the summit is frequently inside a cloud and you will see nothing at all.

Landmark · Shinan, western end

The German concession core — St Michael's Cathedral, the former governor's residence, and a street plan that predates the rest of the city.

Local tip: The cathedral square is the photograph; the interesting part is the lanes north of Zhongshan Road, where German-era commercial buildings are still ordinary shops and flats. The old town was neglected for decades and is now being restored, so it changes noticeably year to year.

Food · Shinan, near Zhongshan Road

A dense old market courtyard of seafood stalls and small kitchens, where you buy the fish and hand it over to be cooked.

Local tip: The system is that you buy your seafood from the stalls and take it to a restaurant in the same courtyard, which cooks it for a fee. Agree the cooking price before you hand anything over. This is how Qingdao eats seafood, and it is dramatically cheaper than any restaurant menu.

Nature · Laoshan district, eastern Qingdao

A rocky headland and a long coastal walkway running east from the modern city toward the mountain.

Local tip: The coastal path east of the Olympic sailing centre is used almost entirely by residents, and on a clear winter morning with the wind off the sea and Laoshan ahead of you it is the best walk in Shandong. Almost every visitor stops at the old town beaches and never comes this far east.