{"id":14826,"date":"2019-08-07T10:00:01","date_gmt":"2019-08-07T14:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/?p=14826"},"modified":"2019-08-05T22:51:30","modified_gmt":"2019-08-06T02:51:30","slug":"experiencing-a-chinese-beer-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/chinese\/experiencing-a-chinese-beer-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Experiencing a Chinese Beer Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summer<\/strong> (\u590f\u5b63 – xi\u00e0 j\u00ec) is in full swing in China. All across the country, people are doing their best to stay cool. For some middle-aged men, that means exposing their stomach in what’s known as the “Beijing Bikini<\/strong>” (\u5317\u4eac\u6bd4\u57fa\u5c3c – b\u011bi j\u012bng b\u01d0 j\u012b n\u00ed). Many families flock to water parks<\/strong> (\u6c34\u4e0a\u4e50\u56ed – shu\u01d0 sh\u00e0ng l\u00e8 yu\u00e1n) to beat the summer heat. This is a very popular month to travel, especially to coastal cities like Xiamen<\/strong> (\u53a6\u95e8 – xi\u00e0 m\u00e9n) and Qingdao<\/strong> (\u9752\u5c9b – q\u012bng d\u01ceo). The latter is home to a massive beer festival<\/strong> (\u5564\u9152\u8282 – p\u00ed ji\u01d4 ji\u00e9). I talked about how to handle drinking in China<\/a> last month, so today I’ll talk about experiencing a Chinese beer festival! Cheers<\/strong>! (\u5e72\u676f! –\u00a0 g\u0101n b\u0113i)<\/p>\n

History of Beer in Qingdao<\/h2>\n

Before we get into the drunken shenanigans of the beer festival, let\u2019s learn a little bit of\u00a0history<\/strong> (\u5386\u53f2 \u2013 l\u00ec sh\u01d0) about Qingdao. Way back in the day, during the Qing Dynasty, the government equipped the city to defend against naval attacks.<\/p>\n

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Way more than 99 bottles of beer…<\/p><\/div>\n

This caught the attention of Germany<\/strong> (\u5fb7\u56fd \u2013 d\u00e9 gu\u00f3), who decided they wanted Qingdao for themselves. From 1898-1914, the German navy used the city as a base. Surely feeling a bit homesick, they decided to bring a little bit of Germany to China, and thus the Tsingtao Brewery was born.<\/p>\n

If you’re confused about why the beer and the city have a different spelling, it’s because the brewery still uses the old Wade-Giles format, while the name of the city is written in pinyin<\/em><\/a>. Tsingtao is probably the most famous Chinese beer<\/a>, as it’s one of the only brands that’s actually exported.<\/p>\n

The Qingdao Beer Festival<\/h2>\n
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The gates to obliteration.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Qingdao International Beer Festival<\/strong> (\u9752\u5c9b\u56fd\u9645\u5564\u9152\u8282 \u2013 q\u012bng d\u01ceo gu\u00f3 j\u00ec p\u00ed ji\u01d4 ji\u00e9) has been going on every summer since 1991. It’s a very popular event, drawing in over 6 million visitors in 2018! This year, the festival is happening from July 26 to August 18.<\/p>\n

You know it’s a cool festival when their slogan is “Qingdao Gan Bei<\/em> With the World<\/strong>” (\u9752\u5c9b\u4e0e\u4e16\u754c\u5e72\u676f \u2013 q\u012bng d\u01ceo y\u01d4 sh\u00ec ji\u00e8 g\u0101n b\u0113i). While the crowd is primarily Chinese, the beer comes from all over the globe. In addition to the obvious Tsingtao, other famous beer brands include Heineken<\/strong> (\u559c\u529b \u2013 x\u01d0 l\u00ec), Carlsberg<\/strong> (\u5609\u58eb\u4f2f \u2013 ji\u0101 sh\u00ec b\u00f3), and of course German brews like Paulaner<\/strong> (\u5b9d\u83b1\u7eb3 – b\u01ceo l\u00e1i n\u00e0).<\/p>\n

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Lots of beer companies are here!<\/p><\/div>\n

The festival grounds are huge, with several giant tents for the more famous beer brands. During the day, it’s more of a family affair. There are several carnival rides<\/strong> (\u6e38\u4e50\u8bbe\u65bd – y\u00f3u l\u00e8 sh\u00e8 sh\u012b) and games here for the kids.<\/p>\n

If you’re not traveling with little ones and you’re looking to party, I recommend waiting until the evening to go into the festival. There’s no re-entry, so you’ll have to buy another ticket if you want to leave and come back. You’re better off chilling on the beach<\/strong> (\u6d77\u6ee9 – h\u01cei t\u0101n) during the afternoon, getting a good meal, and maybe doing a bit of pre-gaming. At least once during your stay, you’ve got to try the draft beer in a bag that’s found all over the city.<\/p>\n

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Tsingtao beer also comes in bags.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Beer and meatsticks!<\/p><\/div>\n

Later in the day, the beer is flowing and the grill is fired up cooking plenty of kebabs<\/strong> (\u4e32- chu\u00e0n). Each tent can hold a few thousand people, so they get pretty rowdy at night! There’s live music or some kind of show going on in all the bigger tents. You can also find some that have a KTV set-up if you’ve had enough liquid confidence to get on stage.<\/p>\n

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Making new buddies is easy.<\/p><\/div>\n

I’ve traveled all over China and going to the Qingdao Beer Festival remains one of my favorite experiences. I liked it so much the first time that I went back a few years later and brought my wife and best friend. People are super friendly<\/strong> (\u53cb\u597d – y\u01d2u h\u01ceo) at the festival. One group invited us to join their table and proceeded to buy giant pitchers of beer and a wide array of interesting snacks (raw garlic cloves and pickled chicken feet, anyone?). It was a bit of culture shock<\/strong> (\u6587\u5316\u51b2\u51fb – w\u00e9n hu\u00e0 ch\u014dng j\u00ed) for my friend who had just moved there, but we all had a great time!<\/p>\n

Just a word of warning – things can get a little crazy at a Chinese beer festival! The calls of “\u5e72\u676f!” are never-ending. Especially if you’re a \u8001\u5916 and you’re a dude, you will be expected to go cup for cup until the entire giant pitcher is gone, at which point your new friends will order up another one and five more plates of snacks. Check out some highlights from our trip the Qingdao Beer Festival and see for yourself!<\/p>\n