Huilan Pavilion
At the pier's tip.
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Qingdao's best-known symbol, a long pier reaching into the sea from Taiping Road on Qingdao Bay and ending at the elegant two-storey Huilan Pavilion, a Chinese octagon raised on 24 columns; the whole pier is about 390 metres long. The Chinese garrison built it in 1892 as an iron-and-timber military jetty about 200 metres long; the Germans extended it after leasing the area in 1898, and it was rebuilt in concrete between 1931 and 1933 with the pavilion added at its tip, becoming a favourite promenade ever since. From the pier you see the old red-roofed houses on the city's hills, the little island of Xiaoqingdao with its white lighthouse, and the gulls that wheel over the water in winter; the old railway station and historic Zhongshan Road lie close to its entrance. The pier is free and always open, and the pavilion's ground floor is open free from 8:30 to 16:30, per visitor guides. Seafood is the city's great speciality, and Lanzhou beef noodle shops run by Hui Muslims are the easiest halal option.
At the pier's tip.
On the hills.
And the white lighthouse.
Taiping Road, Qingdao Bay, Shinan District, Qingdao
St. Michael's Cathedral, QingdaoThe best-known building of old Qingdao, a Catholic cathedral built by a German m9 minutes walk4.6
Xiaoqingdao Island and LighthouseA small green island in Qingdao Bay southeast of Zhanqiao Pier, whose name means12 minutes walk4.1
Signal Hill ParkA green hill 98 metres high at the heart of old Qingdao and the best place to se16 minutes walk4.3
Governor's Residence (Qingdao Guest House)The grandest building of Qingdao's German era, a mansion built between 1903 and 16 minutes walk4.2
Xiaoyushan Park (Little Fish Hill)A small hill 60 metres high near the sea in old Qingdao, whose name means «Littl19 minutes walk4.5Yes, the pier is free and always open, and the ground floor of Huilan Pavilion is open free during the day, per visitor guides.