Why Badaguan is the quarter people fall for in Qingdao
Picture a quiet street where the big trees on both sides arch together into a green tunnel, with old stone walls, wrought-iron fences and European-roofed villas appearing one by one through the leaves. One is a stone castle, the next a Japanese timber house, the next a warm-coloured Spanish villa. This is Badaguan (八大关), the seaside villa quarter in Qingdao's Shinan District, widely regarded as the spot that best captures the city's famous look of 'red tiles, green trees, blue sea and clear sky'.
The name 'Badaguan' means 'Eight Passes'. It comes from the streets here, laid out from around 1931, the first eight of which were named after major passes of the Great Wall of China — among them Shanhaiguan, Jiayuguan and Juyongguan. The quarter was later extended to ten streets, but the name 'Eight Passes' stuck. Inside are more than 200 villas in European and other national styles — Russian, British, French, German, Japanese, Danish — which is why people call it the 'World Architecture Museum'. Walk a few steps and you change countries.
What sets Badaguan apart from an ordinary old quarter, though, is the trees. Each street was deliberately planted with a different species, so the area takes turns looking its best through the year as if on cue. Peach blossom in spring, purple crape myrtle in summer, and in autumn whole lanes of golden ginkgo and red maple leaves. That is why Badaguan has become one of Qingdao's most popular spots for wedding photography — wander through and you will see couples posing for bridal photos under the prettiest trees.
