page_title: Qingdao Observatory
section_title: Development during the Republic of China period
hierarchical_section_title: Qingdao Observatory / History / Development during the Republic of China period
caption_attribution_description: 中文（简体）‎: 青岛海滨生物研究所
context_page_description: The Qingdao Observatory is located on the summit of Guanxiang Mountain in the Shinan District of Qingdao, China. The existing building complex was originally built in 1905. Qingdao Observatory was once an important scientific research institute in Qingdao, and also played an important role in the development of modern meteorology and marine science in China. Together with Shanghai Xujiahui Observatory and Hong Kong Observatory, they once were known as the "Three Observatory in the Far East". Qingdao Observatory has been listed as "Meterology Observation Dome" amongst the "Top Ten Scenic Spots in Qingdao". Its building complex now belongs to the North Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy and the Zijinshan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and is part of the Qingdao German Building Complex, a national key cultural relics conservation site.
context_section_description: On October 10, 1924, Jiang Bingran, Zhu Kezhen, Gao Lu, and others initiated the establishment of the Chinese Meteorological Society at the Qingdao Observatory, with the purpose of pursuing "progress in meteorological science and development of weather forecasting". In 1925, the observatory built a small domed equatorial chamber on the west side of the observation field and fitted a 16-cm refracting telescope left over from the Germans to observe sunspots; this accumulated China's first batch of sunspot observation data.
  In May 1926, Gustav Felier, Chairman of the International Longitude Survey Committee, sent a letter inviting the Qingdao Observatory to participate in the first International Longitude Survey (also known as the Longitude Survey of the World). The Ministry of Education therefore appointed the Qingdao Observatory as the sole representative of Chinese research institutes in the scientific community to participate in the event. Director of the observatory, Jiang Bingran, inspected various observatories in Shanghai and Hong Kong in the summer of that year. He believed that the Qingdao Observatory lacked new measuring instruments so he applied for 5,000 rmb in funding from the General Office of Jiaoao Commercial Port Bureau to purchase new instruments.
  On August 12, 1930, the Chinese Academy of Sciences held the 15th Annual Conference at the Qingdao National University, during which Cai Yuanpei, Yang Xingfo, Li Shizeng, Zhu Kezhen, Jiang Bingran, Song Chunyi and others jointly proposed first the construction of the Qingdao Aquarium, and then the establishment of the China Ocean Research Institute. It was later agreed to be designed by the Observatory's Marine Office and located at Waterfront Park on Laiyang Road. The Qingdao Aquarium was the largest and most advanced marine science exhibition hall in China at the time. 
  In March 1932, the observatory began to implement high-altitude observations once a day as reference for weather forecasts. Later, upon the request of China Airlines, the observatory provided daily high-altitude observation data to airlines. (According to some, the pilot-balloon observation began from March 1932, once every two days, and then the pilot balloon was provided by China Airlines, and the observation changed to a daily frequency).
  In April 1935, the China Branch of the Oceanographic Group of the Pacific Scientific Association was established in Nanjing. They planned to set up marine biology research institutes in Xiamen, Dinghai, Qingdao, and Yantai of which Qingdao Coastal Biology Research Institute was co-chaired by Qingdao Observatory and Shandong National University. However, due to the July 7th Incident and the overall outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the Institute's work did not begin.
caption: Original Qingdao Coastal Biology Research Institute
exif: {"Image Tag 0x000B": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image Make": "HUAWEI", "Image Model": "HUAWEI VNS-AL00", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Windows Photo Editor 10.0.10011.16384", "Image DateTime": "2017:03:15 18:44:16", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "2366", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "2", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[3, 20, 18]", "GPS GPSDate": "2016:11:20", "Image GPSInfo": "4996", "Image Padding": "[]", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/100", "EXIF FNumber": "2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "153", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2016:11:20 11:20:18", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2016:11:20 11:20:18", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "6643/1000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "0", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "CenterWeightedAverage", "EXIF LightSource": "Daylight", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "379/100", "EXIF SubSecTime": "499906", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "499906", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "499906", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3120", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "4160", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "4966", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "28", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF DeviceSettingDescription": "[105, 112, 112, 0]", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "4202"}