The history of Qingdao, birthplace of Taoism, stretches back some 6,000 years. Starting out as a small fishing village, it grew into a prosperous port city by the end of the Qing dynasty.
In 1897, the killing of German missionaries in the area gave Kaiser Wilhelm II grounds to declare Qingdao a German colony in 1898. When World War I broke out in 1914, Japan seized the city, and China regained control with the May Fourth Movement of 1919, reopening the port. It received its current name, Qingdao, in 1930, was occupied by Japan again in 1938, and has been under Chinese government control since 1949.
Since 1994, Qingdao has held sub-provincial administrative status, one of 15 Chinese cities with this designation. The city's German History Museum regularly hosts exhibitions to keep this chapter of its history alive, and in 1995 German Chancellor Helmut Kohl visited the city to strengthen ties between Qingdao and Germany.
Qingdao is best known internationally for its namesake beer, Tsingtao. The brewery was founded by Germans in 1903 and is today China's largest. Every year in the second half of August, Qingdao hosts the Tsingtao Beer Festival — one of China's top 10 festivals since 2006 — drawing breweries from around the world for drinking competitions, parties and exhibitions, with the whole city celebrating in a distinctly German style.
Qingdao hosted the sailing events at the 2008 Olympics, as well as the 13th Summer Paralympics.
