Do I need one ticket for all of Laoshan?

No — the mountain is sold by route. The south-route 2-day pass (¥150 peak, bus included) covers Liuqing, Taiqing, Huayan and Yangkou; Jufeng is also sold standalone at ¥120 peak; Jiushui is separate. Private cars cannot enter, so the sightseeing bus is compulsory on top of the gate price.

Do foreign visitors get discounts anywhere in Qingdao?

At Laoshan, yes — its official English policy page lists "passport" among accepted documents for free entry at 60+ and half price at 6–18, which is unusual. Almost everywhere else in China, concessions are tied to Chinese-issued ID, and the Tsingtao Beer Museum's free list is ID-card-based only.

The district, its avenues and the Second Beach are completely free and open around the clock. Only the individual villas inside charge — Huashi Tower ¥8.5, Princess/Butterfly/Spanish ¥20 each, ¥50 for three. Anyone selling an "all-Badaguan pass" at the gate is inventing a product.

青岛 · Red roofs

Qingdao: one mountain, five tickets

Laoshan is not one ticket. The south route, the Jufeng sector and Jiushui are sold separately, private cars cannot enter at all, and the sightseeing bus is compulsory — so a "¥60 mountain" easily becomes ¥150 before you have climbed anything. Down at sea level the city is the opposite: the pier, the old town and the Eight Great Passes are free, and this is the rare Chinese city whose own English policy page lists "passport" among the documents accepted for a senior or child discount.

Verified fact Checked 2026-10-17

Peak season (1 April – 31 December) gate ticket ¥90 per person; off-peak (1 January – 31 March) ¥60. The mandatory sightseeing bus is a separate ¥60 (peak, valid 2 days) — the mountain is closed to private cars, so the practical south-route package is ¥150 per person. A 'one-ticket' pass covering BOTH the south route and the Jiushui route is ¥140 peak / ¥90 off-peak (bus ¥70, valid 3 days). Entry is by real-name online reservation up to 7 days ahead via the 'Laoshan Scenic Area' or 'Qingdao Laoshan Scenic Area' WeChat accounts; daily visitor numbers are capped per route. Seniors aged 60+ enter FREE on a passport, and minors aged 6–18 pay half price on a passport.

Source: Qingdao Municipal Development and Reform Commission price notice 青发改价格[2019]351号, published by Laoshan Scenic Area (青岛崂山风景名胜区) official site; peak/off-peak dates and discount rules from the area's official English policy page

Reviewer notes (conflicts, traps, old values)

⚠️ THE SEASON BOUNDARY HERE IS 1 APRIL, not a generic 'low season': official peak runs 1 Apr – 31 Dec and off-peak only 1 Jan – 31 Mar. Today (17 Oct) Laoshan is in PEAK season — ¥90 gate, not ¥60. ⚠️ OFFICIAL OFF-PEAK ≠ QUIET: the only discounted quarter, 1 Jan – 31 Mar, contains Chinese New Year, one of Qingdao's genuine crowd peaks (the area also ran half-price promos for movie-ticket stubs and for inbound train/plane tickets until 31 Mar 2026 — Chinese-ID-only offers). The genuinely empty months (December, February) are officially PEAK-priced. Never write 'off-season = fewer people' for Laoshan. FOREIGN-VISITOR RULES — THIS IS THE ONE PLACE IN THIS CITY WHERE A PASSPORT EARNS A DISCOUNT: the operator's own English policy page explicitly lists 'passport' among the documents accepted for (a) free admission at age 60+ (age counted on the Gregorian calendar) and (b) half-price admission for ages 6–18 and full-time students. Children under 6 or under 1.4 m ride buses and cable cars free too. By contrast, the free categories for PLA/PAP servicemen, disabled veterans, Qingdao-resident subsidy recipients (山东 provincial certificates) and GAPP-credentialed journalists are Chinese-document-only. HOURS (official notice, seasonal and split by month — do not templatise): 1 Mar–30 Jun and 1 Sep–30 Nov 07:00–17:30; 1 Jul–31 Aug 06:00–19:00; 1 Dec–28/29 Feb 07:30–17:00. Ticket sales stop ~2 h before closing (16:30 at Taiqing/Jufeng/Jiushui, 16:00 at Huayan, 17:00 at Yangkou). Cable cars run 08:30–16:30 for tickets, 17:00 last decent, and shut in bad weather. ⚠️ DOCUMENT STATUS: the 2019 notice states validity to 31 Dec 2022; the operator's live official pages (景区门票 and English policy pages) still publish these exact prices, and 2026 OTA guides match them — treated as current, but flag for re-verification.

Verified fact Checked 2026-10-17

Jufeng is still sold as its own ticket: ¥80 gate per person in peak season (1 Apr – 31 Dec, valid that day only) and ¥50 off-peak (1 Jan – 31 Mar), plus a ¥40 Jufeng sightseeing-bus ticket (valid that day) — a ¥120 peak-season package. The one-way Jufeng cable car is another ¥40. Alternative: the ¥150 south-route 2-day ticket already covers the Jufeng sector, so do not buy both. Hours 07:00–17:30 in Sep–Nov; ticket sales stop 16:30; cable car last ticket 16:30, last descent 17:00.

Source: Qingdao Municipal Development and Reform Commission price notice 青发改价格[2019]351号, published by Laoshan Scenic Area (青岛崂山风景名胜区) official site

Reviewer notes (conflicts, traps, old values)

Same official notice as the south route. FOREIGN-VISITOR RULES: the operator's English policy page explicitly accepts a PASSPORT for free admission at 60+ and half-price at 6–18, and children under 6 / under 1.4 m get bus and cable car free. TRAP #1 — DOUBLE-BUYING: the south-route 2-day ticket (¥150 peak = ¥90 gate + ¥60 bus) already includes the Jufeng sector, while Jufeng is ALSO sold standalone at ¥120 peak (¥80 + ¥40). If you buy the standalone Jufeng ticket and then want Taiqing or Yangkou the same day, you pay again — one ticket does not unlock the whole mountain. TRAP #2 — the mountain is a closed system: 景区实行封闭管理, the dedicated tourist road does not admit private vehicles or walkers, so the ¥40 bus is not optional, and the coastal highway segment needs its own advance mini-program reservation. TRAP #3 — Jufeng is the hardest route on the mountain (5–7 hours round trip, 1,132.7 m summit) and guidebooks openly advise casual visitors against it; the cable car is one-way priced, so a return by cable costs ¥80. Age-based exemptions do NOT extend to the bus or cable car for seniors — only to the gate. Chinese-New-Year falls inside the discounted quarter, so 'off-peak price' can mean peak crowds.

Verified fact Checked 2026-10-17

Free, and open around the clock. The 440-metre pier walks out into Jiaozhou Bay from 12 Taiping Road, ending at Huilan Pavilion, the octagonal double-eaved pavilion on the Tsingtao Beer label — no ticket, no reservation. It is a 5-minute walk from Qingdao railway station (Metro Line 3). The pavilion interior is listed as free by the operator-side listings and OTA pages, though one guide quotes a small ¥4 charge with exemptions for ages 60+, under-6 and under-1.4 m — assume a couple of yuan may apply and verify at the gate.

Source: Zhanqiao and Huilan Pavilion entry, citing Qingdao municipal government portal (青岛政务网), Qingdao Civil Air Defence Office and Qingdao Seaside Scenic Area official site as references; cross-checked against Ctrip and Tongcheng listings

Reviewer notes (conflicts, traps, old values)

Source caveat: the 'free / open all day' statement is carried by reference entries that cite Qingdao government portals (青岛政务网, 青岛市人民防空办公室官网, 青岛海滨风景区官网) and is corroborated by every OTA listing (Ctrip, Tongcheng both show ¥0.00) and by local guides that summarise official WeChat accounts. This is the correct tier for a free public landmark, but it is a tertiary citation chain rather than a price notice — flag for a direct gov-portal screenshot before publication. ⚠️ CONFLICT on the pavilion interior: most listings show free (Tongcheng lists a '免费预约票 0元'), while one Qunar strategy page quotes about ¥4 with exemptions; the conservative reader-facing value is 'free to walk the pier, a small charge may apply for the pavilion interior'. SEASON TRAP — THE OPPOSITE OF LAOSHAN: there is no ticket season here, but the genuine crowd calendar is Nov–Apr, when thousands of red-billed gulls from Siberia winter on the pier and every visitor feeds them. That is also when the wind is worst and the pavilion interior hours shrink (roughly 07:00–19:00 in high season, 08:00–17:30 in the cold months). Avoid the 09:00–11:00 tour-bus window; late afternoon gives the best light on the old town. Free of charge for foreign visitors — no document is needed to walk the pier at all, which is precisely why it is the safest first stop in Qingdao.

Qingdao attraction tickets at a glance

Official published prices. Where a season boundary exists it is named in the catch column — boundaries differ from site to site across China, and an official "off-peak" window can still be a crowded one.

Attraction	Ticket (official)	The catch
Laoshan south route	¥90 gate + ¥60 bus (peak, to Dec 31)	Closed to cars; the bus ticket is compulsory
Laoshan Jufeng (Giant Peak)	¥80 gate + ¥40 bus, day-valid	Hardest route; cable car extra
Badaguan villa district	District free; villas ¥8.5–¥20	No through ticket exists
Zhanqiao Pier	Free, open 24 hours	Free landmark; gull season Nov–Apr
Tsingtao Beer Museum	¥60 incl. two beer tastings	Tasting included; real-name booking

📌 The "off-peak" is a holiday quarter

Laoshan's off-peak window is only 1 January–31 March — and it contains Chinese New Year. The genuinely quiet months (December, February) are officially peak-priced. Never write off-peak as "fewer people" for this mountain: the discounted quarter is also a crowd quarter.

Getting around

The seafront runs north from Zhanqiao pier: the pier, the church and Badaguan are one walkable strip on metro Line 3, best at golden hour. The Tsingtao Beer Museum is a short hop north on the same line.

Laoshan is the outlier far east — Line 11 plus the mandatory park bus, a half-day each way at minimum. Decide your route before you book: the south-route 2-day pass (¥150 peak incl. bus) covers Liuqing–Taiqing–Huayan–Yangkou, Jufeng is also sold standalone at ¥120 peak, and Jiushui is a separate world.

Two scams and one real discount

There is no "all-Badaguan pass." The district, avenues and Second Beach are free; only individual villas charge (Huashi Tower ¥8.5, Princess/Butterfly/Spanish ¥20 each, ¥50 for three). Anyone selling a through ticket at the gate is running a markup. The real discount: Laoshan's English policy page accepts "passport" for free entry at 60+ and half price at 6–18 — the Tsingtao Beer Museum's free list, by contrast, is ID-card-based only.

A day count that works

Day 1: Zhanqiao Pier, the church, Badaguan at golden hour; seafood and beer by the sea.
Day 2: Laoshan south route — a full day with the compulsory bus.
Day 3: Tsingtao Beer Museum in the morning; the old town and Million Stone Road in the afternoon.

Qingdao guides on this site

The first Qingdao guide is in production — the fact library for all 5 documented sites above is already verified.

The full attractions index shows which guides are live and which are in production.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need one ticket for all of Laoshan?: No — the mountain is sold by route. The south-route 2-day pass (¥150 peak, bus included) covers Liuqing, Taiqing, Huayan and Yangkou; Jufeng is also sold standalone at ¥120 peak; Jiushui is separate. Private cars cannot enter, so the sightseeing bus is compulsory on top of the gate price.
Do foreign visitors get discounts anywhere in Qingdao?: At Laoshan, yes — its official English policy page lists "passport" among accepted documents for free entry at 60+ and half price at 6–18, which is unusual. Almost everywhere else in China, concessions are tied to Chinese-issued ID, and the Tsingtao Beer Museum's free list is ID-card-based only.
Is Badaguan free?: The district, its avenues and the Second Beach are completely free and open around the clock. Only the individual villas inside charge — Huashi Tower ¥8.5, Princess/Butterfly/Spanish ¥20 each, ¥50 for three. Anyone selling an "all-Badaguan pass" at the gate is inventing a product.

Page last reviewed: 2026-10-17.