 A festival in honor of the nectar of the gods, beer. How great is that? Every summer Qingdao hosts the Beer Festival. As someone who has attended many of them, I can honestly tell you it's a damn good time. If you are a serious drinker or a casual weekend enthusiast, you'll see the best of China's beer drinking culture at the event. Picture huge tables filled with beer-swilling, elated Chinese. Beautiful women performing on stage. Music of all kinds is featured at the numerous stage venues. There's tons of food, both Chinese and Western, to gorge on when you get the munchies.
As a foreigner, you'll be swamped with offers of free beers to "ganbei." I've gone to the beer festival in the past and not had to buy a single beer. The Chinese are so generous and kind, they are happy to show foreigners a good time. This is a chance to see the Chinese at their best. I've seen only a couple of fights all the times I've been there, and that's pretty amazing considering the amount of drinking that's going on. If you put that many Canadians or Americans together, there would be some trouble. If karaoke is your thing, you can test your singing skills in front of huge crowds, and even buy a cd recording of your song if you so desire.
There's a large variety of beer to sample, from all over Asia and Europe, as well as our well known North American brands.
The many performances are sometimes hilarious, such as the beer drinking competition. Who can chug a bottle of Qingdao beer the fastest? You'd be surprised that often times it's the ladies who excel at this admirable skill.
How good is the Qingdao Beer Festival? I'm living in Southern China right now, and I'm taking a special trip up to Qingdao to make sure I'm there for the fourth year in a row. Take it from a professional drinker, you'll have a good time!
Monthly Apartment Rentals: Qingdao Real Estate & Relocation Team
Location:Beer City: Main Site (LaoShan District) Closest Bus Stop:Beer City (Corner of XiangGang East Rd. and Haier Rd.) JinJiaLing: #104, #301, #304, #313, #321, #362 Beer City Events
The festival begins with the opening ceremony, followed by 16 days of beer tasting, evening entertainment and drinking competitions, concluding with the final ceremony. - Opening Ceremony @ Beer City :: August 15th, 2009
- Daily Schedule of Events :: TBA
- Qingdao GanBei with the World (青岛和世界干杯!) :: TBA
- Closing Ceremony :: August 30th, 2009
General Admission: 10 - 20 RMB Hours: 09:00 - 22:00 10 RMB (09:00 - 15:00) 20 RMB (15:00 - 22:00) Other Event Locations (HuiQuan Square): Hai Shui Yu Chang: #6, #15, #26, #31, #202, #206, # 214, #219, #223, #228, #231, #302, #304, #306, #311, #312, #316, #317, #321, #501, #604, #605, #801
Editor's note:
"As the Chinese saying goes "bai wen bu ru yi jian" (百闻不如一见), which means it's better to see something with your own eyes than to hear it 100 times." Original Text submitted by Chad Pearson
References to this article:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-08/09/content_660970.htm |
