Qingdao port

Dock facilities at Qingdao in Shandong Province in northern China, circa 1898-1914.

At the outbreak of the First World War Qingdao was a German-controlled port and base for the German Imperial Navy's East Asia Cruiser Squadron. In September 1915 29,000 Japanese troops, supported by a small force of British and Indian soldiers, laid siege to Qingdao. The German garrison managed to hold out for nearly two months before finally surrendering on 7 November 1915.