Badaguan

Badaguan, the eight great passes, takes its name from the streets named after strategic passes of the Great Wall, and it grew from a residential area of the German period into a villa quarter built up through the 1930s, with houses for the wealthy in many national styles, Russian, British, French, Danish, Greek, Spanish and others, so the district is sometimes called a world architecture exhibition. Each street is planted with a single flowering species: peach on one, crab apple on another, crape myrtle, ginkgo, so the quarter changes colour street by street through the year. The Huashi Villa, a granite castle-like house of 1932 on the shore, is open to visitors.

Highlights

• The villa architecture - houses in many national styles.
• The single-species streets - each road planted with one flowering tree.
• Huashi Villa - the 1932 granite house on the shore, open inside.
• The beaches - Qingdao's shoreline at the district's edge.

When to go

April to June for blossom on the streets and September to October for autumn colour and mild weather; summer brings crowds and humidity. Wedding photographers fill the streets at weekends year-round.

Practical notes

Most villas are private and seen only from the street. Wedding photography crews occupy the best corners. The area is a walk rather than an attraction, with limited interpretation.

Nearby

Qingdao's beaches are adjacent; the brewery museum lies northwest.

Key facts