Kang Youwei was the leader of the Reform Movement in the late Qing Dynasty. After the failure of the Hundred Days' Reform, he lived in exile overseas for a long time and was only able to return to China after the 1911 Revolution. In 1923, Kang Youwei began to live in this building beside Huiquan Bay and passed away here in March 1927. This is a residence built in 1899, which was originally the official residence of important German officials stationed in Qingdao. Kang Youwei loved this place very much and praised it by saying, "The house is small but the garden is quite large, and the blue sea waves are just a hundred steps away." He named it "Tianyou Garden".

Inside the museum, there are historical photos, documents and real objects introducing Kang Youwei's life and the Hundred Days' Reform. There are also monographs and articles on Kang Youwei written by famous experts and scholars at home and abroad. The three exhibition rooms with restored displays of the former residence respectively exhibit Kang Youwei's personal belongings and funerary objects, introduce Kang Youwei's life in Qingdao, his death, burial and reburial situations, as well as the precious cultural relics and calligraphy works collected by Kang Youwei during his lifetime.