#44 𝐊𝗂αυ𝗍𝗌𝖼ɦⱺυ 𝐁α𝗒 𝐋𝖾α𝗌𝖾ᑯ 𝐓𝖾𝗋𝗋𝗂𝗍ⱺ𝗋𝗒

Today's post looks at one lesser known unequal treaty signed by Qing Dynasty with Imperial Germany.

Post Category : ✅Chinese History

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Do you know that there are German-style architecture in China?

Yes, they are located in Qingdao (青岛) , a city in Shandong province.

It came about because the debilitated Qing Dynasty was forced to loan Jiaozhou Bay 胶州湾 to imperial Germany by signing the treaty "Vertrag zwischen dem Deutschen Reiche und China wegen Ueberlassung von Kiautschou" which means "Treaty between the German Empire and China regarding the surrender of Kiautschou (the German translation of Jiaozhou)". It was signed in 1898 for a duration of 99 years.

The Chinese translation of this treaty is 胶澳租借条约 i.e. the treaty to loan Jiaoao 胶澳. It translated Kiautschou as 胶澳 i.e. Jiao-bay instead of Jiaozhou 胶州 since only the bay of Jiaozhou was loaned out and not Jiaozhou itself which was a county-level city in Qingdao then.

Qingdao's fate of such unequal treaty fared much better than Hong Kong as it was returned to China eventually by Japan in 1922 since China aided the Allies during WW1 on the condition that Jiaozhou Bay had to be returned to China. Japan controlled Qingdao (known as Tsingtao to the West then) by defeating Germany with the help of the UK in the “Siege of Tsingtao” in 1914.

Below are some captivating pictures of the German architecture in Qingdao (credits to China Plus Culture).