Korean performers entertain local people with traditional dancing and music in Qingdao, Shandong Province.

Koreans can live the good life in Qingdao without speaking any Chinese. The residential buildings are managed by Koreans, Korean restaurants are located on every street and clinics have been specifically set up for Koreans.

The Korean-friendly environments of Yantai, Weihai and especially Qingdao, a coastal city in East China's Shandong Province, are big reasons for the popularity of the areas among Koreans.

Shandong has China's highest concentration of Korean people and enterprises, the majority of whom are in Qingdao.

A report from the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea, in Qingdao, says that by the end of October there were more than 148,000 Koreans living in Shandong, and 85,000 of these were in Qingdao.

Qingdao's government has raced to improve the city's infrastructure and create a favorable environment for Koreans.

Additionally, Korean institutions such as the Korean Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, Korea Business Development Center and Korea Production and Technology Center have been set up in Qingdao to facilitate Korean business development.

A Korean hospital, schools and a newspaper help make Koreans' lives in Qingdao more convenient.

"It is comfortable to live in Qingdao," South Korean Consul General Kim Sun-heung says.

Another reason why Koreans are so comfortable in Qingdao, according to Kim, is the familiar surroundings.

"Similar geography, climate, cultural background and food give Koreans a feeling that they are at home, so their life is as easy as being in Korea," Kim says.

"Trust is easily built on the basis of Confucian culture. A similar cultural background is indeed important to the promotion of communication between the two countries."

Kim highlights the convenience of flights between Qingdao and South Korea. It takes an hour from Qingdao, Yantai and Weihai to South Korea's Incheon, near Seoul.

Besides 90 flights to-and-from Korea every week, there are 10 ships from Qingdao to Incheon, Pyeongtaek and Gunsan.

Many Koreans flock to Qingdao, Yantai and Weihai to play golf every weekend. The comparatively low cost of living is another reason why so many Koreans retire here.

"An average monthly retirement plan paying out about 10,000 yuan (US$1,350) in Korea can only just make ends meet, but in China it goes a lot further," says David Y.S. Yoon, chairman of Qingdao Dasan Imitation Jewelry Co Ltd, the first South Korean enterprise to set up in Qingdao.

Increasing number of Koreans are investing in Qingdao.

South Korea is the biggest trade partner of Shandong Province. Korean investment in Shandong accounts for 57 percent of South Korea's total investment in China, and 70 percent of its investment in Shandong is in Qingdao, Kim says.

"Chinese and Koreans have been learning from each other for a long time," says Mao Jialuan, deputy director of the foreign affairs office at Qingdao government.

In recent years, the number of Koreans visiting Qingdao has increased by 30 percent every year, and will hit 500,000 this year. Around 1 million Korean visitors are expected in Shandong this year.

People living in Qingdao are welcoming this influx of Koreans.

"Koreans bring delicious food - barbeque foods and pickled vegetables - and fashionable things such as jewelry, clothes and cosmetics," says Gao Ming, a Chinese student at Jiaozhou Health School.

(China Daily December 24, 2007)