In commemoration of the first high-speed train trials between Shanghai and Hangzhou, I'd like to present to you something I found on my last trip there: fake Tsingtao. That's right, someone out there is actually making a shanzhai version of the local beer. more ›

I was just in Qingdao for the weekend for the Beer Festival, but it looks like the real beer drinking fun was to be had in its northern neighbor Weihai. This deer has been known to knock back four beers over the course of the day and will often deny water in order to get more beer. Good thing it's Tsingtao, so no worries about the deer being dehydrated too quickly. more ›

Maybe it's a sign that Xiao Zi (the yuppies of China) really are taking over: Tsingtao's new ads, designed by Ogilvy & Mather, are in English even though they plan to be shown just here in China. more ›

• After Jiaozhou Bay was ceded to the Germans in May 1897, the small fishing village of Qingdao turned into the military hub of the German Navy. The city became the naval nerve center of all German operations in the Pacific ocean. It was the Germans, homesick and in great need of beer, who constructed and opened the hallmark Tsingtao Brewery in 1903.
• In the antebellum period of World War I, the Germans were forced to Flee after the British and Japanese combined forces and laid siege to the outpost. The Japanese maintained control over the city (and the brewery) until 1922, when it was returned to China. But in 1937, the Japanese reoccupied the city as part of their expansion into mainland China.
• After World War II, the city served as a U.S. naval port for a brief period before the founding of the PRC.

The following post is from our advertiser Ctrip To commemorate the annual pukefest celebration of life we call the Qingdao Beer Festival, we'll be turning into Qingdaoist in late August. We hear the fest, which spans from August 15 to August 30 is well worth the trip, so if you're a fan of beer and fun, you should think about coming too. Get a jump start making your way through the madness by booking through our friends at Ctrip, who have compiled all their flight deals to Qingdao here (flights from Shanghai start from just 500RMB). Come, not just for the beers but also to see a veritable cultural mashup when everyone begins using the nectar of the Gods as a diplomatic lubricant. more ›

Entry: FREE! more ›

Zach Mexico and Li Du of Current TV head off to the Tsingtao Beer factory and Beer Town in Qingdao to get sloshed with locals and to investigate Qingdao's long beer history. We love those plastic bags of beer everyone's carrying about in Beer Town! more ›

In what we're sure is a total coincidence, NBA entities had two big China-related announcements right around the time Team USA finished its gold medal romp in Wukesong Arena in Beijing. more ›