Signal Hill Park

 

Basic Information of Signal Hill Park

Chinese Name: 信号山公园 Pronunciation: Xìn Hào Shān Gōng Yuán

Opening Hours: 7:30-18:30

Building Time: 1987

Suggested Visiting Hours: 1-2 Hours

Best Visiting Season: At all seasons

Occupied Area: About 0.064 million square meters

Address: Qidong Road, Shinan District, Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China.

Building Function: Three red dome buildings shaped like a mushroom with different heights symbolize three red torches used to transmit signals in ancient China.

Popular Activities: Before dawn on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival every year, citizens go to Signal Hill one after another to pick wormwood to pray for peace; the Double Ninth Festival is the ninth day of the ninth lunar month. At that time, the sky is clear and the air is crisp. Signal Hill Park is not only the high point of the city but also the place to enjoy the beauty of this island city.

 

Ticket Price

Tickets	Content	Price
Admission Fee  (including Revolving Belvedere)	Adult	15 yuan
	Children below 1.3 meters	0
	Children between 1.3 meters and 1.5 meters in height	7 yuan
	Senior citizens over 60 years old  (with senior citizen certificate)	5 yuan

 

Introduction of Signal Hill Park

Qingdao, enjoying a high reputation of Switzerland of the East, is near the Yellow Sea. Signal Hill is located beside the shopping street which is next to the famous Longshan Hotel in Qingdao City. It is also known as "Wulongshan(五龙山)" because it is located among five roads and the names of them: Longjiang Road(龙江路), Longkou Road(龙口路), Longshan Road(龙山路), and Fulong Road(伏龙路) all involve the Chinese character “龙”.
 

Signal Hill Park is located in the center of Qingdao. It got its name because there was a signal station on the top of the mountain which was used to pilot ships. The Signal Hill Park is an ideal coastal sightseeing park integrating sightseeing, catering, and recreation with Revolving Belvedere, Signal Hill Hotel, and Signal Hill Teahouse. With an altitude of 98 meters and covering an area of 63,936 square meters, the Signal Hill is a mountain with a relatively high sea level in Qingdao.
 

Signal Hill is not only a good place to enjoy the beauty of flowers and plants but also a better place to climb the mountain and admire the view of Qingdao. In Signal Hill Park, there are 14 travel routes with a total length of 1,984 meters, connecting 12 scenic spots: Mushroom Hall, Liuqu Corridor, Hexagonal Pavillion, Yulan Pavillion, Viewing Platform, Stone Eagle, Sidewalk Cafe, Beacon Tower, Revolving Belvedere, Love-Lock Bridge, Five Dragon Pool, forming a beautiful and peaceful landscape.
 

The park is mainly planted with black pine, torch tree, and Yucca glorious, which are integrated with other flowers and shrubs such as cherry blossom and peach tree. A famous scholar, Yu Pingbo, once wrote a poem for the Signal Hill as well.
 

The design of Signal Hill is unique, especially the three red dome buildings shaped like a mushroom with different heights on the top of the mountain, which are similar to three red torches used to transmit signals in ancient China.
 

Sitting in the belvedere of Signal Hill, you can have a panoramic view of Qingdao and the beautiful scenery of Huiquan Bay. Seaside scenic spots in Qingdao have well-known Zhanqiao, Little Qingdao, Bathing place of Badaguan and so on. The tourists can enjoy an uninterrupted view of the red tiles, green trees, blue sea and sky of this island city.
 

As the center of Qingdao, Signal Hill is also the cradle of the modern and contemporary Chinese literary world. Many well-known Chinese writers and scholars once settled down near the hill, such as Mr. Kang Youwei, Mr. Wen Yiduo, Mr. Lao She, Mr. Liang Shiqiu. They lived near Signal Hill Park for a long time in the early years of the last century and created lots of works here.
 

With blue sea and green hills beside the teahouse of Signal Hill, the scenery here will make you feel completely relaxed and happy. The environment of the Signal Hill Hotel is elegant and the price of the hotel is affordable. You can appreciate the beautiful scenery while eating something. The hotel can accommodate more than 100 people at the same time and hold all kinds of wedding banquets.
 

In 2002, the Signal Hill was rated as "New Top Ten Scenic Spots in Qingdao". In 2003, it was rated as a national 3A tourist attraction by the provincial tourism bureau. In 2004, it was selected as "Charming Qingdao - the most popular tourist attraction in Qingdao" and "Qingdao Tourism Integrity Unit" by citizens in Qingdao.
 

In the past two years, Signal Hill has successfully organized many public fitness activities and bird exhibitions in cooperation with relevant departments, which has been highly praised by the community.
 

The sea not only gives Signal Hill a beautiful appearance, but also makes tourists want to be as open-minded as it is. Signal Hill Park has become one of the most popular parks in Qingdao. The hospitable people living near Signal Hill are looking forward to tourists from all over the world.

 

History of Signal Hill Park

When Germans invaded and occupied Qingdao in 1897, they set up guns on the top of the hill and built a monument to commemorate their occupation of Qingdao. Qingdao's earliest radio station was set up here, and the mountain was named after the German commander, Dillis.
 

After the Japanese occupied Qingdao in 1914, it was renamed "Shenwei Hill" to commemorate the Japanese general Shenwei who occupied Qingdao. There was also a monument here.
 

In 1922, it was named Signal Hill after the liberation of Qingdao and was invested by Qingdao municipal government to develop tourism.
 

Signal Hill Park was completely built-in 1987 and decorated with such scenic spots as Revolving Belvedere, Mushroom Hall, Yulan Pavillion.

 

Attractions and Highlights at Signal Hill Park

Love-Lock Bridge

The arch bridge in the Signal Hill Park attracts a lot of people to visit. The bridge is full of heart-shaped locks, which are the best wishes of lovers for their love, hoping to stay together with their partners for a long time.
 

Built in 1989, the Love-Lock Bridge, also known as the Auspiciousness Bridge, is a stone arch bridge. It is 6.75 meters long and 1.65 meters wide. Sweethearts and newlyweds attach padlocks to the bridge to symbolize their lasting romance and unbreakable love. Besides, there is also an arched building, which is like an archway leading to the marriage hall.
 

If people visit the Signal Hill Park, this arch bridge must not be missed. It would be better for sweethearts to attach the lock to the bridge with their names written on it, which means that the two people in love will lock their hearts together forever.
 

Five Dragon Pool

Built in 1989, Five Dragon Pool is the portrayal of “五龙闹湾”(the name of a sculpture). It is located on the hillside of Signal Hill, which is an artificial landscape. The name of the mountain, Signal Hill, also known as "Wulongshan(五龙山)", is derived from it.
 

In the middle of the pool, a dragon is coiling on a pillar, surrounded by four black dragons. The surrounding four dragons spray water onto the dragon in the middle at the same time and the golden dragon in the middle of the pool also sprays water. The gushing spout converges into a pool and falls into a waterfall, which forms a rare spectacle.
 

If the sun is setting in the west, the dragon with spray in the background presents a lively and vivid picture. It echoes with the colorful sunset and countless high buildings in the city, forming a magnificent and colorful painting.
 

Liuqu Corridor

The walls outside and inside the corridor are painted with red and pale blue respectively. The general appearance with the contrast of these two colors gives people a sense of visual impact.
 

Various signal flags are hanging in the corridor, which are still used in the contemporary era. Even though science and technology have been highly developed, the signal flags still play an irreplaceable role in directing traffic, especially in directing cargo shipping. Due to the weather, wind and other factors, the signal will be interrupted sometimes. At this time, the bright color of the signal flag is particularly important.
 

When you feel tired, you can have a rest in the corridor. There is also a platform on which you can enjoy the scenery in the distance.
 

Revolving Belvedere

The Revolving Belvedere is the main building of Signal Hill, with a height of 20 meters and an area of 350 square meters.
 

There are four floors in the belvedere. The walls of the first floor are engraved with ancient ways of transmitting signals, such as beacon tower, ox horn, and war drum.

The walls of the second floor are engraved with modern ways of transmitting signals, including carrier pigeons and flags of thousands of countries. Countless carrier pigeons form the dragon boat, which means that the Chinese people are the descendants of the dragon.
 

There are 14 tea-houses on the third floor, which can accommodate 56 people at the same time. The revolving music teahouse revolves once every thirty minutes, providing an excellent place for visitors to have a comprehensive view of the beautiful Qingdao.
 

Here you can have a panoramic view of the old town of Qingdao. More than 20 famous scenic spots of the island city, such as the Christian Church, Zhanqiao, Guesthouse, TV Tower, and Tsingtao Brewery can be seen here.

 

Suggested Travel Route

Viewing Platform → Love-Lock Bridge → Five Dragon Pool → Mushroom Hall→ Liuqu Corridor → Revolving Belvedere
 

• Note: Qingdao is a city with few one-way streets. If you are interested in cycling, you can go to Donghai Road, and people with strong physical strength can even ride to Taipingjiao and Badaguan (scenic spots in Qingdao); The temperature and air in Qingdao are much wetter than those in the hinterland. Owing to the location of the city, the wind blows hard in this area. Therefore, it is suggested that tourists who come to Qingdao in winter should wear a down jacket with a hat.

 

Ways to Get to Signal Hill Park

By Bus

Take bus No.1, No.214, No.217, No.220 air-conditioned, No.221, No.225 loop line, No.228, No.231 loop line, No.367, Tunnel 1 or Tunnel 5 to the “Affiliated Hospital of Qingyi (青医附院)” Station. Then walk 60 meters northward along Jiangsu Road and choose to walk down the path on the rightmost. After that, walk 260 meters to the destination.
 

By Subway

a. You can take Metro Line 3 in the May Fourth Square and get off at People’s Hall Station and walk about 940 meters to the Signal Hill Park.
 

b. You can take Metro Line 3 in the May Fourth Square and get off at Huiquan Square Station and then take bus No.411 or No.214 and get off at Signal Hill Park Station.
 

By Taxi

Chinese: 请带我去信号山公园。English: Please take me to the Signal Hill Park.

Chinese: 请带我去信号山公园的南门。English: Please take me to the South Gate of the Signal Hill Park.

Chinese: 请带我去信号山公园的北门。English: Please take me to the North Gate of the Signal Hill Park.

If you go to the Signal Hill Park from the center of Qingdao (May Fourth Square), it takes about 15 minutes (20 yuan).

If you go to the Signal Hill Park from the Qingdao Liuting International Airport, it takes about an hour (87 yuan).

If you go to the Signal Hill Park from the Qingdao North Railway Station, it takes about 26 minutes (46 yuan).

If you go to the Signal Hill Park from the Qingdao Railway Station, it takes about 10 minutes (13 yuan).