Shandong University's old central campus in the Hongjialu area is one of the more pleasant university districts in northern China — a neighborhood of tree-lined streets, student cafes, second-hand bookshops, and inexpensive restaurants that surrounds the original campus buildings. The university was founded in 1901 and the older buildings on campus have a subdued colonial-era character.
The neighborhood is worth visiting for an evening meal or afternoon coffee; prices in the university district restaurants are reliably lower than in the tourist spring areas, and the clientele is mixed — students, faculty, local residents, and the occasional traveler who has discovered that eating near a university is almost always a good strategy. The campus grounds are open to visitors and pleasant to walk.