Badaguan Scenic Area in Qingdao

Badaguan Scenic Area (Eight Passes 八大关) is located between Qingdao City’s Bathing Beach #3 and TianTai Stadium in Taiping Bay Area. Composed of 10 streets of which 8 are named after strategic passes through the Great Wall of China, this scenic area is host to one of Qingdao’s best beaches located at the end of NingWuGuan Road.

Lying between TaiPing and HuiQuan Cape, Badaguan (八大关) Scenic Area faces the rippling tides of TaiPing Bay to the south and the sands of Bathing Beach No. 3 to the east. Scattered among the coastal flora and fauna, along with many varieties of trees such as peaches, crab-apples, pine trees and ginkgoes, are more than 200 villas of exotic styles. Also known as, the World Architecture Museum, Badaguan due to the large numbers of European villas that criss-cross this scenic area is sometimes referred to as “little Switzerland.”

This scenic area, located at the far end of Qingdao Old Town,  was once a place where people from more than twenty countries, such as Germany, the United States of America, Russia, Britain, France, Denmark, Greece, Spain, Switzerland, Japan and etc., constructed buildings in each of their unique national styles.

After the People’s Liberation in 1949, the government repaired the entire area and its buildings, symbolizing Badaguan’s significance as one of the most important sanitaria in China. Many leaders of the Chinese Communist Party and foreign friends of China have stayed in Badaguan (八大关) for rehabilitation or simply, for pleasure.

Juyongguan in Qingdao’s Badaguan (八大关) Scenic Area, built in 1931, covers 67 acres consisting of ten roads that are each lined with distinct species of trees and flowers. Badaguan, also known as China’s “World Architecture Museum,” is home to more than 200 European style villas built in the early 1900’s.

Eight of the 10 roads are named after the 8 strategic passes of the Great Wall in China: Jiayuguan, Juyongguan, Wushengguan, Ningwuguan, Shanhaiguan, Shaoguan, Zhengyangguan, & Zijingguan — giving the area its name “Badaguan” which translates to “Eight Passes.”

The flowers bloom in different seasons which give this area its other beautiful name, “Hua Jie”, which means a “flowery area”. Each street is lined with its own distinct species of tree giving the area an annual spectacular Autumn show of colors.