Qingdao Postal Museum

The building on the northeast corner of the Anhui Lu – Guangxi Lu intersection is the Qingdao Post and Telecommunications Museum.

Part of the extant colonial era architecture in the area between Zhan Qiao and the original Qingdao City Hall, the building at 5 Anhui Lu has been a post office since at least 1905, when it was a German postal building with a Tsingtau postmark.

The museum has exhibits from Qingdao’s post and telecom history, including some old telephone and telegram equipment as well as documents and photos from the building’s historic past.

From Qingdao Today:

The building was constructed in 1901 by a trading company. In 1905, it was turned into a German post office. Many years later, it became Qingdao Post Office. The house itself is said to have witnessed Qingdao’s postal history. Visitors will be able to try out the crank telephones used in the 1920s and 1930s, the process of sending a telegram, and see the office of the head of the telephone bureau in 1923 and brush-written official documents. Qingdao Postal and Telecommunications Museum will be the first of its kind in the country to combine post and telecommunications. China’s postal history can be traced back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The postal industry established by Germany in Qingdao can be considered part of China’s postal origins. It is said that the original design of the building was drawn up by a German architect with reference to the Gothic-style buildings in northern Germany. The Qingdao government tried to locate the original designs in an attempt to reproduce them, to no avail. The government reproduced the building’s look using photographs and other records.

Relevant Links:
5 Anhui Lu on Flickr