Qingdao is in northern P.R.C., in the Shandong Province
Big mugs of fresh beer... quaint century-old Germanic rooftops... happy folks eating, dancing, singing... lederhosen... green hills... fireworks... parades... a giant inflated pink condom... Canto-pop live on stage... alien on a stick... beaches... more mugs of fresh beer - this time from Singapore or Japan... Slovenian rock'n'roll....
Where are we???
We are in Qingdao - Beer City! for the annual Qingdao Beer Festival.
Qingdao is in northern P.R.C., in the Shandong Province
small fish hill
view of old Qingdao, looking west and north
Qingdao (formerly "Tsingtao") was
a German colony a century ago:
the red dot is the hill where we took these pictures
big German building? far away?
it's only a model
which of us 3 looks most German?
outside the Guest House
our tour guide, Caroline, in the #2 Tsingtao brewery...
"foam means it's very fresh"
"brewed true feeling splashed all the people"
"IntermRational Beer Festival"...
this year's mascot:
Jun Jun!
everybody sing: "we're gonna do it..."
"...give us any chance we'll take it..."
"...read us any rule, we'll break it..."
"...we're gonna make our dreams come true... ...doin' it our way!"
lots of vineyards, too
our guide, inside the tastings room at Huadong
Kathleen, amidst the tanks, just like
in Orvieto last year
fraulein, in Beer City, stunned by our Canto-pop traveler
drink...
...and eat to your hearts' content.
"mmmmmm.... pijiu"
note stylish banner featuring Toni Tenille look-alike,
70s hipster facial hair and 2 Germanic oom-pah band guys
just found out it's closing time...
so, on to the next day...
that little island was the original "Tsingtao" or "Green Island"
the Beer Pier - Tsingtao label shot! - looks just like the label,
in the mirror:
speaking of beer...
how about a parade through Beer City!
maybe this is what German colonists looked like to the Chinese a century ago...
... though that doesn't necessarily explain the magenta-and-teale
yes, that's a little white bunny rabbit in a cage in the parade...
now then, back to the beer - and cactus...
...and monkey...
...and...
...other things.
pronounced "lashko pee-vo" - sudsing Slovenians since 1825!
In Slovenia, our friend is a rock'n'roll god.
Kathleen and Mark Lucente / 2002 August