Qingdao, prefecture-level city, sub-provincial city, planned city, megacity, and core city of Qingdao Metropolitan Area in Shandong province, is located in the south of Shandong Peninsula and bordered by the Yellow Sea to the east; its topography is predominantly hilly, with the terrain being high in the east and low in the west, bulging in the north and south, and concave in the middle; it enjoys a temperate monsoon climate, with significant maritime characteristics, and covers a total area of 11,293 square kilometers. As of October 2022, Qingdao has seven districts and three county-level cities under its jurisdiction. As of the end of 2022, the resident population was 10,342,100.
Qingdao is an important central city along the coast of China and a coastal resort and tourist city and international port city, as determined by the State Council. It is the economic center of Shandong Province, the leading city in the core area of Shandong Peninsula Blue Economic Zone, an important national pioneer zone for the development of modern marine industry, an international shipping hub in Northeast Asia, and a base for maritime sports. It is also the main node city of the Belt and Road New Asia-Europe Continental Bridge Economic Corridor and the strategic pivot point for maritime cooperation.
Qingdao is a famous national historical and cultural city, the birthplace of Chinese Taoism, and the origin of the May Fourth Movement. Jiaozhou Bay since the Tang and Song dynasties has become an important port in the north, the Qing dynasty Guangxu seventeen years (1891), garrisoned the establishment of Jiaoao, 1897, the German lease construction of ports and railroads, and so the rise of the "port all the way", the nineteenth year of the Republic of China (1930) was renamed Qingdao City, because of the small island in the sea. Qingdao was named after the small island in the sea and the ancient fishing village Qingdao Village. Qingdao is the host city of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 13th Paralympic Games, as well as the sailing capital of China, the beer city of the world, the United Nations "film capital", the first batch of coastal cities, the national civilized city, and the brand capital of China. Qingdao is also a national center of marine scientific research and education, with 30% of the nation's marine scientific research institutions. As of December 2022, there are 29 higher education institutions (including 2 military schools), and 24 higher education institutions have been introduced and are in operation.
In 2023, Qingdao realized a GDP of 1,576,034,000,000 Yuan and an annual general public budget revenue of 133,780,000,000 Yuan.
