AS a scenic city, Qingdao has attracted many of China’s most popular contemporary writers. Liang Shiqiu, the renowned author, said in his article: “I’ve traveled across the country from north to south and west to east, and Qingdao is the most memorable place I’ve been to.”

Zhang Shufeng, researcher at the city’s institute of social science, added: “Since the beginning of the 20th century, Qingdao has been known throughout Asia for its European-style culture. For 100 years, the city’s environment has been the biggest attraction for writers.”

In the 1930s, Qingdao had tourist attractions such as Laoshan Mountain, Huiquan Bathing Beach, Qianhai Bridge, Zhongshan Park and eight cottage zones. Numerous tourists came to the city every year and all hotel rooms tended to get booked out. Writers and poets, such as Cai Yuanpei, Wen Yiduo, Lu Xun, Shen Congwen, Lao She and Liang Shiqiu, all expressed their feelings about the city. Liang even said that among all the cities in China, Qingdao was the cleanest and his favorite place.

So what is their favorite thing about Qingdao? In Liang’s opinion, he liked the weather the most. “It has four seasons, but it is never too cold or hot,” he said.

Su Xuelin loved the sea in Qingdao. “It is so adorable because it’s green in an elegant and serious way. Qingdao is like the daughter of the sea,” she said.

Maybe because they loved Qingdao, they also took the Qingdao people to their hearts. Liang said he particularly loved their kindness and hospitality.

Liang also thought Qingdao was the perfect place for permanent living. Apart from the environment and its relaxing effect, the food was also an important reason. There were all kinds of seafood in the city and the local cuisine was also great, Liang said. Although there was no local fruit, all of the famous fruit in Shandong Province, such as peach from Feicheng, pears from Laiyang, bananas, apples and grapes from Yantai, could also be seen there.

Lao She used to say that he was impressed by how Qingdao people spent their spare time. Many residents established folk opera organizations and Lao She was one of the fans. “It was a very interesting experience and I have many interesting memories from there,” he said.

(Wang Yuanyuan, Liu Yanqing)