Hi, this is Stephan again from Qingdao. It has been a wonderful first week with InternChina in my new city. China is crazy, but in a positive way. Everything is different from Europe. The people, the food, the traffic. I love the beach and the wonderful sea here in Qingdao.
I got to meet a lot of interesting individuals this week and there are just a lot of impressions I have to process right now. What is also very interesting for me as a German guy, is that there is a long German history in Qingdao. Surprisingly, before me some Germans have already been here and they had quite some influence on the region around Qingdao.
In 1898, Germany forced China into giving them 553 square kilometers of land in Northeast China for 99 years. It happened after the killing of two German missionaries, this gave the military a reason to launch an offense in northeastern China. The most important city in this region was the city of Qingdao. This era lasted until 1914 when Japan was able to force the Germans out of China.
Today you can still see some influences of that past time. A lot of houses still resemble German architecture and there are a few churches that look exactly like a church back in good old Germany⊠Impressive!
You also can not forget the world famous Tsingtao Beer. The Tsingtao Brewery was founded back in 1903 and since then its beer has made its way all around the world. There is no better way to enjoy the Qingdao beach in the evening and drink a cold Tsingtao beer. Ganbei!
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The sun is shining and the birds are singing on this cold Saturday morning in Qingdao and where better to go than the Beer Museum!
Myself and the interns met at the usual spot and hitched a cab to Beer Street. This is the road with the museum at its centre where every doorway leads to a keg or two and a bag to fillâŠ
So, the museum itself is also the Brewery. You can wander around the different out-buildings and learn about its history and how the beer is made.
What did you learn I hear you ask?
Well in building A we learned about TsingTaoâs history and its creators:
The Brewery was founded by The Anglo-German Brewery Co. Ltd., an English-German joint stock company based in Hong Kong who owned it until 1916. The brewery was founded on August 15, 1903 as the Germania-Brauerei (Germania Brewery) and combined advanced Western technology with Chinese culture. After nigh-on a century Qingdao beer now has 15% of the domestic market share. Tsingtao Beer was introduced to the United States in 1972, and soon became the top-selling Chinese beer in the U.S. market; it has maintained this leadership within the United States ever since, despite increasing competition from other well known Chinese beer brands, Zhujiang and Yanjing. The Tsingtao brand is sold in 62 countries and regions around the world[6] and accounts for more than 50% of Chinaâs beer exports. Oh and the logo on the bottle is ZhanQiao.. which can also be found in Qingdao â
In building B we got to see how the beer is made â
I got to taste the grain, see the machines which mash it, stir it, hop it, cook it⊠and I still have no idea how it’s made.
We also watched a 2 minute video of a man writing on his clipboard but even this didnât help!
But, we had a laugh, took some pictures, touched things we shouldnât touch and tried some raw AND refined beer. So all in all, a successful learning experience.
Moving on to the final part of the tour there was the ânot quite genericâ souvenir shop which sold all of the usual overpriced Tsingtao branded guff, but also other random items which looked like they had been chosen from the 1970âs generation game.. like this little beauty for example â
Now if anyone can tell me the link between a skull shape telephone and beer, then I will buy you a bottle of Qingdaoâs finest myself!
Aside from this shop there is a âDrunken roomâ⊠which is simply a slanted room but makes you feel like youâve actually been on a crazy booze fueled bender.. the only thing missing was the kebab at the end!
And there, hangover free, we ended our tour. This is the beer street at night and the sight we were greeted with upon exit â
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the rest of the pics below. If you would like to see some videos of our events then take a look at our MEDIA page⊠then if you want to come and try fresh Qingdao beer for yourself or join us on our next trip – donât forget to Apply Now!
See you soon!