Tsingtao Qingdao

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One of the most exciting things I learned about Qingdao when I first found out my company was sending me here was that there was an annual International Beer Festival in August that was started back in 1991.  I knew I'd probably miss the 2007 festivities, but I fully intended to enjoy 2008.  You see, Tsingtao beer was a creation of the Germans in 1903 during a time when they occupied this territory and needed beer for their sailors.  I have enjoyed more than one Oktoberfest in Munich, so I am in good shape for Qingdao.  Or is it Tsingtao? Those of us old enough to have grown up calling the capital of China first "Peking" then "Beijing," will understand the Tsingtao-Qingdao conversion.  Being good marketers, the brewery did not want to lose their Tsingtao brand identification when the transliteration system changed, so they have stayed with "Tsingtao" while I live in the city of "Qingdao."  Both words are pronounced identically--just by different rules.  I don't care how you spell it, just think "CheengDao" and enjoy. In 2002, Anheuser-Busch entered into a strategic alliance with Tsingtao Brewery through a 27% purchase.  Tsingtao beer is the best-selling Chinese beer in the world.

At home in the States, I drink German dark beer, so I was pleasantly surprised by the Tsingtao dark beer.  It quickly became my favorite local brew. The Chinese name actually means "black" instead of "dark", and you can see how aptly named it is.

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