Tsingtao and the Brewery by the Sea

How a brewery founded by Germans and Britons in 1903 became the symbol of Chinese beer around the world, and why its city still lives with beer.

A German city in China

At the end of the 19th century, Germany took control of Qingdao, a fishing town on the coast of Shandong, and turned it into a colonial port with red roofs, churches and wide streets. Many of those buildings still stand today, giving the old town a strangely European look.

In 1903 a company of British and German investors founded the Germania Brewery there, under the supervision of German master brewers. Equipment and ingredients came from Germany, and the first beer was a German-style lager.

Laoshan water

Tsingtao is traditionally associated with the mineral water of Laoshan (崂山), the mountain that rises behind the city, famous for its springs and Taoist temples. The brewery still tells its story through that water.

A century of changes

The brewery's history follows China's own:

• **1916:** during the First World War, Japan took Qingdao and the brewery was sold to a Japanese brewing company.
• **1945:** after Japan's defeat, it returned to Chinese hands.
• **1949:** with the founding of the People's Republic, it became a state company.
• **1990s:** it merged with other local breweries and became Tsingtao Brewery, listed on the stock market and exporting around the world.

From Qingdao to the world

Over the century, Tsingtao became China's most famous beer abroad, sold in dozens of countries. For many Europeans, it is the only Chinese beer they have ever tasted, usually in a Chinese restaurant.

A city of beer

Qingdao lives with its brewery:

• The original buildings now house the **Tsingtao Beer Museum**, where you can see the old equipment and taste fresh beer.
• Every summer, the **Qingdao International Beer Festival** fills the city with beer tents and music.
• Locals buy fresh draught beer from street kegs and carry it home in **plastic bags**.
• The classic snack is **clams** (蛤蜊) stir-fried with chilli: beer and clams is the taste of a Qingdao summer.

What it tastes like

Tsingtao lager is pale gold, crisp and lightly malty, a little fuller than most Chinese beers. Drink it cold, with seafood, dumplings or anything fried.

In one sentence

Tsingtao was born in 1903 in a German brewery on the Chinese coast and became China's beer ambassador to the world.