ON June 14, 1891, the Qing Dynasty Government established a fort on Jiaozhou Bay to tighten the country’s defenses along the eastern bay.

    Since the establishment of the Jiao’ao fort, agriculture, fishing, transport and trade have been promoted in the small fishing village. Some historians thought the establishment of Qingdao could be traced back to the Ming Dynasty when the government set up a small fort in the Jiaozhou Bay area. Before the fort was established, it was a small fishing village.

    According to historical archives, a government official Xu Jingcheng, who had visited several European countries in the 1800s, prepared a report for the German Government. In the report, it was said Jiaozhou Bay was a natural port and was suited to building a modern harbor. The report had made Xu realize that many Western countries already had their eyes on Qingdao, so he suggested the Qing Government build a naval base in the bay in 1886.

    On June 11, 1891, Qing Dynasty official Li Hongzhang advised the emperor to build a fort in Jiao’ao Bay to defend the country against Western invasion and the advice was taken three days later.

    Experts concluded that Qingdao had been an official administrative town since June 14, 1891.

    Six years later, the German army invaded Qingdao. Although the city became a colony of Germany, it was later carefully planned. Germans built ports, railways, churches and other infrastructure, which helped promote the city as a medium-sized modern city. (Wang Yuanyuan, Wang Pin)