Eden Project Qingdao, China

The experience

Eden Project Qingdao is all about water and the global water cycle. This project focuses on the innumerable ways in which water, whether too much or too little, affects the planet and the populations it supports. 

Visitors to Eden Project Qingdao will journey through dramatic landscapes of extreme aridity and water abundance, surrounded by theatrical performances and interactive installations. These will explore different aspects of water - from the microscopic life forms in one drop of water to the thunder claps of a storm cloud.

The project will showcase the regeneration of the site, bringing the land back in touch with its surrounding water. It will communicate the importance of water and the ongoing water challenge in a meaningful and fun way and be a positive and optimistic place for environmental and social change.

The location

Eden Project Qingdao is positioned on Jiaozhou Bay, surrounded by water and defined by rivers and sea. It is situated on a large area of reclaimed and environmentally damaged land originally used for salt production and then prawn breeding and is located on the confluence of two rivers.

Qingdao is a coastal city of nearly nine million people in Shandong Province, halfway between Shanghai and Beijing. The city is backed by mountains and surrounded on three sides by the Yellow Sea.

It is famous for hosting the 2008 Olympic sailing races, for having the largest bathing beach in Asia and for its most famous export, Tsingtao Beer.

Construction

Eden Project Qingdao was the first of the new Eden Projects outside Cornwall to begin construction.

In May 2020, a groundbreaking ceremony for the project was held in Qingdao (with Eden staff attending virtually due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions) and work on the site has been ongoing since then. Eden Project Qingdao is set to open in 2023.