Despite what your guide book may say (even the professionals can’t get it right all the time), Qingdao is loaded with cheap accommodations. If you can speak just a little bit of Chinese, you should have no problem finding a 2-3 person room for 80-150 yuan. 

 

If you’re arriving at Sifang train station, there will be people offering you free rides to their hotels. Generally they will offer you a price before you see the room, but remember that even if you take a ride from them, you are under no obligation to stay in their hotel. If you’re a budget traveler, find a hotel that’s near the ocean, try to bargain them to 100 yuan or less and then go for it.

   

Another option is to take a taxi or the 215 bus into the city center. The area around the Zhan Bridge (栈桥 zhàn qiáo) has lots of small hotels and small restaurants. Rooms with a view of the sea are likely to cost a bit more. Look for the following signs, all of which roughly mean “hotel”: