The most famous of Qingdao's city beaches, backed by a row of red-roofed bathhouses built by the Germans in 1901. No. 1 Beach curves in a wide arc of golden sand between two rocky headlands, with the Qingdao Aquarium to the west and Lu Xun Park to the east. In high summer it fills with millions of Chinese holidaymakers.
The bathhouses are a visual signature of Qingdao — a row of identical red-and-white striped changing cabins on stilts, photographed from the hillside above. The beach scene itself is exuberant and uniquely Chinese: elaborate sand sculptures, food vendors, inflatable toys, and the periodic collective splash of everyone entering the water at once. Off-season, in spring or autumn, the beach is practically empty and far more pleasant to walk.