Photo adjustments
Full frame retained; proportionally resized and converted to WebP. No retouching or changes to the photographed subject. Card displays may crop the view.
Explore the region
About Little Qingdao Island
The island's compact, shell-like shape, its crags and its dense trees earned it the name Qingdao, also written Qindao, and the city took its name from the island; once the two needed distinguishing, the island became Xiao Qingdao, the lesser Qingdao. Under German rule it was called Arkona Island and under Japanese rule Kato Island. The lighthouse the Germans put up in 1900 stands 15.5 metres high and showed a red intermittent light visible for four nautical miles. The Shinan District government records that the lighthouse was listed as a national key cultural heritage protection unit in 2004.
The island was first laid out as a park in the early 1930s, with a tea room, flower beds, stone seats, an archway and a launch quay; visitors came by boat, and the lamp seen floating offshore became one of the ten scenes of Qingdao. During the second Japanese occupation it served as a military post, and in 1941 a breakwater along its east side joined it to the mainland, with a second breakwater added on the north side in the 1950s. After 1949 it was a naval base. Qingdao municipality took it over in 1987, laid it out as a park once more and opened it to visitors in 1988, adding a plaza of 2,700 square metres, an 80-square-metre flower bed, 3,270 square metres of lawn, pavilions and the Qin Maiden statue.
What to look for
- The white octagonal lighthouse of 1900, 15.5 metres high, built during the German administration
- The Qin Maiden statue set up when the island was replanted as a park in the 1980s
- The breakwater of 1941 along the east side of the island, which carries the approach on foot
- The lawns, flower bed and plaza laid out in the 1987-88 works, with pavilions and other garden structures
- The view back across Qingdao Bay towards the Zhanqiao pier, which lies just north-west of the island
Location & getting there
Getting to Little Qingdao Island
Confirm ferry arrangements where needed, weather and any local restrictions on water access. A beach listing does not establish that swimming is permitted.
- Search for 小青岛 with 青岛市 and 市南区.
Find Little Qingdao Island
小青岛 · 市南区
No reliable map pin yet: search by the Chinese name.
Sources & visit information
The linked sources support the identity and background described in this introduction. Opening hours, admission, activity availability and exact arrival arrangements have not been comprehensively checked. Confirm current visitor information with the venue; the original catalogue locality and editorial review flag are retained.