In August, we had the pleasure of visiting Qingdao, China in the Shandong Province on the Yellow Sea. We landed in an ocean city with clean, wide boulevards and beautiful views. It reminded us a bit of the central coast of California, with rocky beaches, overcast skies one day, and perfect sun the next. Qingdao hosted the 2008 Olympic sailing competitions, and the city benefited greatly from revitalization in 2007-08. From 1897-1922, the city was under German jurisdiction, and it has retained this heritage with European building and roof lines, AND in the great Tsingtao Brewery. Now you know why we went.
Each year in August, thousands of Chinese and a few foreigners descend on Qingdao to celebrate the International Beer Festival. This was the first trip I researched when we learned we were moving to China, and it was worth it. Tsingtao is China’s most famous beer, exporting to more than 40 countries. We saw thousands of people on the Saturday night we went to the festival, and we were two of maybe 20 non-Asian faces in the pavilions. Fascinating! We had an interesting time at the festival, making “friends” that would last at least a couple of hours. We also visited the factory and museum, marking this the 5th or 6th country in which we have toured a brewery.
The pictures say it all, so enjoy!
The Simple Adventure 
These are great Julie & Tim,
I especially love the one of the big hamburger!
I’ll have to get the particulars on how you went (air, bus, train?)
I’m sure we won’t do the beer, but the beach looked great!