Qingdao International Beer Festival

Qingdao International Beer Festival	Qingdao International Beer Festival

Venue:  Qingdao, Shandong Province

Origin:  The Qingdao beer is renowned all over the world. The Qingdao International Beer Festival was first held in 1991, and has since become an annual event, which takes place at the Qingdao Tourist Resort.

What’s On:  Full-length variety shows, parades of artistic floats, fashion shows, fireworks display at the beach, sports competitions, a symposium on beer-making technology, and business talks.

Every summer Qingdao hosts the Beer Festival. As someone who has attended three 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 perform 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 ganbai. 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!

Editor's note:
"As the Chinese saying goes "bai wen bu ru yi jian", which means it's better to see something with your own eyes than to hear it 100 times."