St Michael’s Cathedral Qingdao

Up a hill off Zhongshan Lu looms this grand Gothic- and Roman-style edifice. Completed in 1934, the church spires were supposed to be clock towers, but Chancellor Hitler cut funding of overseas projects and the plans were scrapped. The church was badly damaged during the Cultural Revolution and the crosses capping its twin spires were torn off. Devout locals buried the crosses for safe keeping. In 2005 workers uncovered them while repairing pipes in the hills, and they have since been restored.