Germany has long been known as a nation of beer drinkers, even as consumption has gradually declined. Its brewing tradition reached far beyond its own borders well before the age of large beer conglomerates: during Germany's colonial push into Asia around the turn of the 20th century, German settlers weren't about to give up their beer, founding the Germania Brewery in Kiautschou in 1903 — the forerunner of the Tsingtao Brewery in the same province, Shandong.
After the territory was ceded following the Treaty of Versailles, the Tsingtao Brewery went on, without German ownership, to become China's largest brewery.
Even though the city's name is now spelled Qingdao, its German roots live on both in the beer's name and its taste — a blind taste test would leave even dedicated beer drinkers hard-pressed to tell it apart from a German brew. For those who prefer something less bitter, a local tip: Tsingtao beer is often mixed with Sprite in China.
China, now the world's largest beer producer, doesn't just borrow from Germany in its cars — it also holds the largest beer festival outside Germany itself, right in Qingdao every year. Don't be too surprised if chicken feet show up on the table instead of pork knuckle, but a loud "gan bei" (bottoms up) still gets plenty of glasses drained in one go.
