A Chinese Beer Festival, Ganbei!
A festival in honor of the nectar of the gods, beer -- how great is that? Every summer, starting the second weekend of August, Qingdao hosts the largest beer festival in Asia with international breweries from all over the globe flocking to the sandy shores of China's Shandong Province. If you are a serious drinker or a casual weekend enthusiast, you'll see the best of China's beer drinking culture at this event. ¹
Being a beer enthusiast myself, I have to admit that I've never heard of this festival. I recently came across a little brochure in a Chinese Tourism package, and I thought "Oh wow, what is this!" Their slogan is "Ganbei with the world", a quick search of Urban Dictionary reveals that "Ganbei" is the Chinese version of "cheers!" literally translated as "drink it all." That is a slogan that I can live by! The Qingdao Beer festival has been ongoing since 1991 and is now the largest beer festival in all of Asia. I wanted to take this post as an effort to help share it with the world.
Taking a further look into this festival, I don't understand why the whole world doesn't know about it. It has opening and closing ceremonies, theatrical performances, a parade with floats and of course Beer Drinking Games. Each year over 50 different "world-known beer-makers" will bring their thirst quenching products to over 3 million tourists from around the world². (5 million people annually attend the renowned Oktoberfest in Bavaria)³
If you like beer and are still looking to make your vacation plans for this August why not try China, Qingdao is easy to get to and a great way to experience China and it's culture.
About Qingdao
Qingdao is located on the beaches of the Yellow Sea about halfway between Beijing and Shanghai, internationally it's best to fly into Beijing and get a connecting flight down to Qingdao. Other things to do there would be to relax on the beach (as you can see the sea borders 3 sides of the city) and see the Laoshan Mountains. About 2.25 million people live in Qingdao, and it's home to the famous TsingTao Beer
EDIT SEPT 13TH, 2012: There is a new discount airline based in Singapore called Scoot that flies direct to Qingdao. Get yourself a deal!
Have you been to the Qingdao Festival? What are your experiences there? Leave a comment!
Want more Real Footprints? Follow us on Twitter , Facebook or subscribe to receive email updates about each new post!
For further information you can email qdbeer@126.com or call the Qingdao Municipal Beer Festival Office at: 86-532--88891214
¹ from the Qingdao China Guide
²from the Qingdao China Guide
³From Wikipedia