Badaguan is an historical residential area – particularly known for its stylish European villas – that lies along the coastline in the Shinan district of the elegant city of Qingdao, located in East China's Shandong province. For many, the old buildings of Badaguan present a fascinating insight into a bygone era of the city.

Gongzhu Building

Address: No 10 Juyongguan Road, Shinan district, Qingdao

Opening times: 9:00 am-4:00 pm

With its turquoise exterior walls, white edges and pointy roof, the building is a little reminiscent of a scene from a fairy tale. A prince from Denmark built the structure in the national Danish architectural style for his princess in 1930s and named it Gongzhu Building, or Princess Building. By a quirk of fate, the princess did not come, but the name of the building is still used today. [Photo/WeChat account: qdweishinan]

Hu Die Building

Built in 1934, this building was designed by renowned Chinese architect Liu Yaochen and her husband, Russian architect Alexander Lavlinkov.

The Hu Die Building was once the home of China's first film queen Hu Die, one of country's top cinema stars of the 1920s and '30s. Now, the 82-year-old villa has been returned to public to showcase Qingdao's centenary film memories.

Address: No 21 Shanhaiguan Road, Shinan district, Qingdao

Opening times: 9:00 am-6:00 pm

The grand exterior of the Hu Die Building [Photo/WeChat account: qdweishinan]