Updated June 2018
Tsingtau - Qingdao - 青島 |
Tsingtau (Qingdao) is a port city located on the south coast of the Shantung (Shandong) Peninsula at the eastern entrance to Jiaozhou (Kiaochow) Bay, one of the best natural harbours in northern China.
Originally a small fishing village, Tsingtau developed a large junk trade during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), when a customs station was established there. With the establishment of the Beiyang (“North Ocean”) fleet in the 1880s, the Chinese government realized the strategic importance of the location (then known as Jiao’ao) and set up a minor naval station and fortifications there. |
In 1897 the German government which had ambitions in this area, dispatched a force to occupy Tsingtau; the next year it forced the Chinese government to pay an indemnity and to grant Germany a 99-year lease on Jiaozhou Bay and the surrounding territory, together with railway and mining rights in Shantung. Tsingtau was declared a free port in 1899, and modern port facilities were installed; a railway was built to Tsinan (Jinan) in 1904. A modern European-style city was laid out, and a variety of industries were founded. A branch of the Imperial Maritime Customs was established to control the trade of the coast in this region.
In 1914, when Japan declared war on Germany, its prime purpose was the capture of Tsingtau; the port capitulated after a blockade in November. China's appeals to regain control of the region during the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 failed, and the Japanese |
continued to occupy the city until the Washington Conference of 1922, when the port was returned to China. During that period, however, the Japanese had built up a strong position, both in Tsingtau itself and in the Shantung hinterland, which would not bode well for the future.
Above: a 1905 4 cents German Kiautschou colonial stamp posted at Tsingtau in 1912.
Above: a 1905 4 cents German Kiautschou colonial stamp posted at Tsingtau in 1912.
Tsingtau came under the effective control of the Nationalist government in 1929 and became a special municipality. Port development continued, and its trade overtook that of its rival, Tientsin (Tianjin), in around 1930, after which it continued to expand.
The Japanese occupied the city in 1938 and held it until 1945. During that period, considerable industrial development occurred. By 1941 Tsingtau had major modern cotton mills, locomotive and railway car works and repair facilities, engineering shops, and factories manufacturing rubber, matches, chemicals, and dyestuffs. Its brewing industry still produces one of the best-known beers of China. |
German Tsingtau Tsingtau was the administrative centre of what became known as the Kiautschou Bay concession, which existed from 1898 to 1914. Due to the strategic importance of the port, Tsingtao's administration was controlled by the German Imperial Navy; the Far Eastern squadron of which was based here. Major reconstruction of the city commenced in 1898, with many of the Chinese coastal inhabitants forcibly relocated to make way for commercial, industrial and military building. Further major construction works would later be carried out by the Japanese and the Republic of China. Germany had forever lost control of the city by the end of 1914, however they had left their mark: in the German-European architecture, much of which survives to this day, and in the Tsingtao Brewery which was founded by German colonists in 1903 as the 'Germania Brewery'. The brewery was taken over by the Japanese in 1916, until 1945, then became a Chinese company which was nationalised after the revolution of 1949. Unsurprisingly the brewery has been privatised again, in 1991. |
Above: Video - The Siege of Tsingtao.
The only battle to be fought in the Far East during World War One had a profound and lasting impact on Chinese-Japanese relations. Germany controlled the port of Tsingtao (modern day Qingdao) on the east coast of China until an Anglo-Japanese force invaded in September 1914. |
1945 to the present
After World War II the KMT government allowed Tsingtau to serve as the headquarters of the Western Pacific Fleet of the US Navy in 1945. The American presence steadily diminished in subsequent years, with the last military personnel leaving in May 1949. On 2 June 1949, the CCP-led Red Army entered Tsingtao and the city and province have been under PRC control since that time.
Since the 1984 inauguration of China's open-door policy to foreign trade and investment, western Qingdao developed quickly as a port city. It is now the headquarters of the Chinese navy's northern fleet. Northern Qingdao, particularly Shibei, Licang, and Chengyang districts, are now major manufacturing centres.
After World War II the KMT government allowed Tsingtau to serve as the headquarters of the Western Pacific Fleet of the US Navy in 1945. The American presence steadily diminished in subsequent years, with the last military personnel leaving in May 1949. On 2 June 1949, the CCP-led Red Army entered Tsingtao and the city and province have been under PRC control since that time.
Since the 1984 inauguration of China's open-door policy to foreign trade and investment, western Qingdao developed quickly as a port city. It is now the headquarters of the Chinese navy's northern fleet. Northern Qingdao, particularly Shibei, Licang, and Chengyang districts, are now major manufacturing centres.
Post-war Allied forces in China during the Civil War - Operation Beleaguer
On August 1, 1946, 1st Division directed that American forces in Tsingtau be reduced to a reinforced infantry battalion, and that the 4th Marines be returned to the United States. The regiment's 3d Battalion was to remain in China as a separate unit, in order to protect the United States and Nationalist naval bases at Tsingtao. |
American forces were withdrawn from Hopeh Province between April and May 1947. After that, efforts to evacuate American and other foreign nationals were centred around Tsingtau, which was under the control of Brigadier General Omar T. Pfeiffer and his men. One infantry battalion, based at Tsingtau, was reserved for operations to protect American lives and property in Hopeh, but it would only be deployed if needed. In the fall of 1948, the economic and military collapse of the Nationalists, predicted by General Wedemeyer, Marshall, and others, came about in Manchuria.
The Communists gradually pushed back the Nationalists until finally capturing the capital of Nanking on April 24, 1949. The last of the Americans to leave China left Tsingtau on May 16, 1949.
(Above) 'Short snorter' Central Bank of China 100 Yuan of 1945:
This interesting piece of Tsingtau post-war history carries an inscription; "Tabo Bar, Tsingtau China, April 20th 1947" and the signatures of 10 US servicemen (navy) stationed at the naval bases there.
Legible names: NS Marsh F/C, Keith Waters, D/L Hammond (with own date of 4/20/1949), Willard N. Wahlheim, Charles Mulligan JR. The photograph to the (above) right is of Charles Mulligan JR, stationed at Tsingtau c1947 and this is his own (2008) comment on the photo:
The Communists gradually pushed back the Nationalists until finally capturing the capital of Nanking on April 24, 1949. The last of the Americans to leave China left Tsingtau on May 16, 1949.
(Above) 'Short snorter' Central Bank of China 100 Yuan of 1945:
This interesting piece of Tsingtau post-war history carries an inscription; "Tabo Bar, Tsingtau China, April 20th 1947" and the signatures of 10 US servicemen (navy) stationed at the naval bases there.
Legible names: NS Marsh F/C, Keith Waters, D/L Hammond (with own date of 4/20/1949), Willard N. Wahlheim, Charles Mulligan JR. The photograph to the (above) right is of Charles Mulligan JR, stationed at Tsingtau c1947 and this is his own (2008) comment on the photo:
"This was soon after we were given permission to grown a mustache for the first time. Had to shave them off before returning home to USA. Mine grew to just over 8 inches from tip to tip. I used bees wax we used in rope making crafts to wax it. Tsingtao at this time was ringed around most of the area by the Communist army fighting the Nationalists army. Some war then, the one army would get to come around one night, then the other the next.
I really loved the Tsingtao Beer and now I know its sold in the US. It sure could get cold in the winter sometimes and it made the beer even better." |
Some of the Banknotes of Tsingtau
The Bank of China - 中國銀行
The Bank of China - 中國銀行
The Shantung branch of the Bank of China seems to have been established in 1913, in the provincial capital of Tsinan (Jinan). In 1929 the branch was relocated to Zhongshan Road in Tsingtau. Operations were suspended during 1941-1946 because of the Japanese occupation. Left: 1918 5 Yuan Shantung note with added overprints specifying Tsingtau as the office of issue/ redemption (SCWPM: P52s, Smith and Matravers: C294-101o). The signatures of Governor Wang K'o-min and branch manager J. S. Wong (?) date the period of circulation from 1922. |
The Bank of Communications - 交通銀行
The Tsingtau branch was established in 1923; the neo-classical branch building which still survives, was constructed in 1929.
The Central Bank of China (1928) 中央銀行
The Central Bank of China's Tsingtau branch building (right) was originally constructed for the Japanese controlled Bank of Chosen. The CBC took over in 1945. The building still stands. Right: a 50 cents of 1949 depicting the aquarium building built in a traditional style and opened in 1932. Apparently issued for a mere 18 days as local currency denominated in Silver Yuan, due to money shortages. Tsingtau (Qingdao) was at this point isolated; these were introduced during the brief period of Nationalist government at Canton (Guangzhou), from May to October 1949. |
Yokohama Specie Bank Ltd
A Japanese bank founded in Yokohama, Japan in the year 1880. Though private, the YSB became in effect the official bank for Japanese overseas trade, and in particular Japanese business concerns in China. Deeply entangled with the Japanese occupations across Asia, following Japan's defeat, its assets were transferred to The Bank of Tokyo (now The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ) in 1946. Right: rare 1 Dollar (local currency) of 1924. |
The Deutsch-Asiatische Bank
The Deutsche-Asiatische Bank was founded in Shanghai in 1889 with the participation of Deutsche Bank, one of the largest banks in Germany. It's branches included Tientsin (1890), Hankou (1897), Tsingtau (1897), Hong Kong (1900), Yokohama (1905), Peking (1910), Canton (1910) and Tsinan (1914). In 1906, it received the concession to issue its own banknotes in China. During the First World War and the Second World War, its branch network and business activities were destroyed. It survived outside of China until 1987 when it was merged into Deutsche Bank. Below: the Tsingtau Branch, c.1910. Right: rare 1907 10 Dollars (local currency). |
Miscellaneous