May Fourth Square () is a large (10

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100- metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre i ...

s) public square in

Qingdao Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...

's central business district. It is located between the new municipal government building and Fushan Bay and is composed of Shizhengting Square, the central square and the coastal park. Named after the nationwide protest

May Fourth Movement The May Fourth Movement was a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural, and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. Students gathered in front of Tiananmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) to protest the Chin ...

that started in

, the square is best recognized by the large "May Wind" () sculpture near the seaside. The square is a popular tourist destination, and is bordered by the city government to the north, the sea to the south. The eastern and western sides of the square are surrounded by high-rise buildings. The light show of May Fourth Squre

On September 25th, 2018, the light show to celebrate Chinese Mid-autumn festival was put on the buildings across the sea of the May Fourth Square.

History of May Fourth Square

The May 4th Movement () was sparked by Article 156 of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

which transferred German concessions in

Shandong Shandong ( , ; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal Provinces of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in His ...

including Qingdao to Japan rather than returning sovereign authority to China. Chinese outrage over this provision ignited mass student demonstrations in Beijing on May 4th, 1919 which resulted in the cultural movement known today as the May Fourth Movement. The May 4th Movement influenced the Chinese delegation not to sign the Treaty of Versailles. China declared the end of its war against Germany in September 1919 and signed a separate treaty in 1921. After the completion of the May Fourth Square, it has become the main cultural landscape of the eastern new urban area.

China Central Television China Central Television (CCTV) is a Chinese state- and political party-owned broadcaster controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its 50 different channels broadcast a variety of programing to more than one billion viewers in six lan ...

and other units filmed special programs with May Fourth Square in the background, especially with the "May Wind" theme sculpture, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the May Fourth Movement.

Layout

The plant layout of May Fourth Square is mainly based on the evergreen cold-season lawn, with small cypress,

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

, albizia, golden privet, turtle early holly , purple leaf

barberry ''Berberis'' (), commonly known as barberry, is a large genus of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from tall, found throughout temperate and subtropical regions of the world (apart from Australia). Species diversity is greatest in South America an ...

floribunda rose Floribunda (Latin for "many-flowering") is a modern group of garden roses that was developed by crossing hybrid teas with polyantha roses, the latter being derived from crosses between '' Rosa chinensis'' and ''Rosa multiflora'' (sometimes ca ...

and other flowers and trees. May Fourth Square is divided into north and south areas. The north area is connected to the Qingdao Municipal People's Government and is the central square. The southern district is adjacent to

Fushan Bay Fushan may refer to: * Fushan, Chengmai County (福山镇), a town in Hainan, China *Fushan County (浮山县), of Linfen, Shanxi, China *Fushan District Fushan () is a district of the city of Yantai, Shandong province, near the shore of the Boh ...

and is the district Liangxin Beach Park. In the middle of the square there is a large green lawn with palm trees. The surrounding area of the square and the lawn are tightly paved with various patterns with Qingdao granite, and a circular fountain is located in the center.

References

Tourist attractions in Qingdao Squares in Qingdao {{china-stub