Qingdao: the city of ideals

Qingdao, a stunningly beautiful coastal city in China's Shandong province, has been regarded as an ideal city over the course of its history. But the content of the ideal has changed over time. In the past, it was associated with nearby Lao Mountain, a sacred Daoist site, and regarded as a spir...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCritical review of international social and political philosophy Vol. 25; no. 5; pp. 667 - 682
Main Authors Wang, P., Bell, Daniel A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 29.07.2022
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
20th century
Cities
ideals
Modernity
political
Qingdao
romantic
Sacredness
spiritual
Taoism
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Summary:Qingdao, a stunningly beautiful coastal city in China's Shandong province, has been regarded as an ideal city over the course of its history. But the content of the ideal has changed over time. In the past, it was associated with nearby Lao Mountain, a sacred Daoist site, and regarded as a spiritual ideal. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Qingdao was viewed by leading Chinese intellectuals and political reformers as an ideal political city that best expressed modernity. More recently, it has been viewed by ordinary Chinese as China's most romantic city. In this essay, we draw on history, the strolling method, and interviews with 'city-zens' to discuss Qingdao's ethos and how and why it has changed over time.
ISSN:1369-8230
1743-8772
DOI:10.1080/13698230.2021.1881741