Geographic Location & Climate
Qingdao is located in the middle of Shandong Peninsula (120°22′E, 36°4′N), with the Yellow Sea to the east and south, and the mainland to the west and north. Qingdao covers an area of 10,654sq km. Located in the temperate semi-humid continental climate zone, it is a well-known summer resort. The average summer and winter temperatures are 25 ℃ and 1.3℃ respectively with an annual average temperature of 12.2℃.  Average annual rainfall is 775.6 mm.

Districts, Counties, and Population
Qingdao is comprised of 7 districts: Shinan, Shibei, Sifang, Licang, Chengyang, Huangdao, and Laoshan, and 5 county-level cities: Jiaozhou, Jiaonan, Jimo, Pingdu, and Laixi.  The total population of approximately 8.2  million comes under the jurisdiction of Qingdao Local Government.  The urban population is 2.3 million which includes 60,000 Koreans working and/or residing in Qingdao.

Getting Here and Away
Liuting International Airport:
Qingdao currently offers 19 international & interregional passenger and freight air routes, with over 300 flights per week.  Qingdao's International airport offers direct flights to Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Seoul, Busan, Taegu, Paris, Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Macao with a new route to Frankfurt currently underway.  Qingdao's airport also provides over 800 domestic flights per week, directly linking Qingdao with 47 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou.

Flight Times to Adjacent Cities:
Seoul: 1 hour
Busan: 1 hour 30 min.
Fukuoka: 1 hour 30 min.
Tokyo: 2 hours 40 min.
Osaka: 2 hours
Beijing: 1 hour
Shanghai: 1 hour
Guangzhou: 2.5

Rail, Highway Networks, &  Ferry
The Qingdao Rail Station provides frequent connections to regions throughout China with direct routes to Beijing, Jinan, Weihai, and Yantai.  A high speed train connecting Jinan, Qingdao, Beijing, and Guangzhou is under construction and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2006. The roads in Qingdao stretch over 5,935 kilometers with 9 expressways totaling 525 kilometers.  Main highways include the Jinan-Qingdao Expressway, Jiaozhouwan Expressway, and the Qingdao-Yinchuan Expressway. As a vice-provincial-level city, Qingdao ranks first in terms of expressway traffic mileage in China.

Qingdao's Ferry provides transportation to locations such as Incheon, Korea and Shimonoseki, Japan.  Orient Ferry Ltd. operates a regular service between Shimonoseki, on the western tip of the main island of Honshu, and the Chinese port city of Qingdao. One-way tickets cost between ¥18,000 and ¥70,000 with discounts of 10% on return fares. Passengers departing from Shimonoseki are also required to pay a passenger facility service charge of ¥600. The journey takes approximately 40 hours. Please contact Orient Ferry Ltd. for further information. The ferry to Incheon departs at 17:00 on Mondays and Thursdays, returning Wednesdays and Saturdays at 14:00.

Educational Institutions
There are 11 colleges and universities, including Qingdao Ocean University, a key university of the Ministry of Education, and the only one of its kind in China. Children of foreign business people can study at Qingdao International School and Qingdao Nanyang School.

Hospitals
The 217 hospitals in the city form a complete heath care system that encompasses medical treatment, disease prevention, convalescence, education, and scientific research. It is recommended that foreigners in need of medical treatment visit the Qingdao International Clinic located on DongHai Zong Lu.

Banks & Financial Institutions
Qingdao, "The Pearl of the Yellow Sea," is a hotbed for international business and headquarters for numerous famous brands and products such as Nike and Lucent Technologies. With a reputation as world famous beer producer and home to classic architecture from around the world, Qingdao was deservingly awarded CCTV's appraisal as on of China's top 10 economically dynamic cities.

Foreign Banking Corporations: Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp., Yamaguchi Bank, Korea International Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea, Bank of China (Hong Kong), Bank of East Asia Limited, Standard Chartered Bank PLC, Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation. 

Domestic Banking Corporations: Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of Communications, CITIC Bank, China Everbright Bank, China Merchants Bank, HuaXia Bank, ShenZhen Development Bank Co. Ltd.,  and Evergrowing Bank.

The Only bank in Qingdao that provides English telephone customer service support is  China Construction Bank (+86 532) 95533, 8:30-5:00 M-F.

Getting Around Qingdao
Local busses are numerous and can take you anywhere you want to go for the fraction of the price of a taxi. Bus fair is 1-2 RMB depending upon time of year and direction of travel.  Taxis are cheap (7 RMB for the first 3.8 km) and easy to find except during the morning and evening rush hours, 8-9 am & 5-6 pm.