Grandfather passing on some Qingdao history. Photograph taken May 17th, 2012 at Fire Wood Court (劈柴院 PiChai Yuan) on Zhongshan Road in the internationally historic Qingdao Old Town. ~ Photograph © Colton Dirks
PiChai Yuan (Firewood Court)
Corner of ZhongShan & Beijing Road
ShiNan District > Qingdao Bay Area (Old Town)
Qingdao, Shandong Province. P.R. China
劈柴院, 中国山东省青岛市市南区
Originally JiangNing Road, PiChai Yuan (Firewood Court) is located on the corner of ZhongShan and Beijing Road. PiChai Yuan contains restaurants, tea shops, and various local street snacks. There is also a museum and information center.
History of PiChai Yuan (劈柴院)
Located in Qingdao Old Town, PiChai Yuan 劈柴院 (Firewood Court) was originally constructed in the early 1900’s during the German occupation. In its hay-day it was Qingdao’s place to enjoy cultural entertainment as well as take in some of Shandong’s culinary delights.
After WWII, as Qingdao grew and folks moved east towards Laoshan, PiChai Yuan (劈柴院) became an old relic of Qingdao’s historical past.
In 2007, PiChai Yuan (Firewood Court) was restored to reflect its historical relevance in Qingdao’s cultural history. It covers an area of 13,500 sqm. PiChai Yuan has been frequented by famous poets, storytellers, and actors such as XinFengXia, GeZhaoHong. The Chinese crosstalk master – LiaoDe MaSanLi even performed.
Today, there are numerous restaurants in Qingdao which are scattered from PiChai Yuan on Zhongshan Road to Laoshan and even across the bay to Huangdao (Qingdao West Coast) that offer a wide selection of both Chinese and Western food. Qingdao’s popular restaurant streets, YunXiao & MinJiang Roads, are located in the ShiNan Central Business District.