There are still two Qingdao blog posts left to write. I’ve really put them off for too long. Originally, I saved these two for last because I don’t particularly recommend either place, and it’s not easy to find many photos of them. But now I’m thinking that if I don’t write them up soon, I might forget what to say… So let’s get these two done right away.
The Tsingtao Beer Museum is located on the famous Dengzhou Road. The street is lined with seafood stalls. Given the recent poor reputation of small eateries in Qingdao, and the fact that they seem to cater mostly to tourists from out of town, I’d suggest eating seafood elsewhere if you’re visiting. The Beer Museum is actually the original Tsingtao Brewery; it still operates as such today and remains in active production. The museum entrance is on Dengzhou Road, easily identifiable by the giant Tsingtao beer can on top.
You first enter Hall B, the History Hall. Admission to this hall is free, but honestly, there isn’t much inside. It mainly features a historical overview of the old Tsingtao Brewery along with some vintage artifacts. However, since I don’t know much about the brewing process, I couldn’t really tell what purpose those items served—it probably makes more sense to someone in the industry. There are also a few mannequins inside; walking into an empty room and suddenly seeing them can be quite startling…
Next is Hall A, which houses the current Tsingtao Brewery No. 1. This hall basically covers the brewing process, various ingredients, and the entire development history of Tsingtao Beer. However, when I visited, it was extremely crowded with tour groups, which felt a bit overwhelming. I didn’t look too closely at the earlier exhibits, and halfway through, we reached the complimentary beer tasting. Our tickets included one glass of unfiltered draft beer and one glass of pure draft beer; I thought the unfiltered draft tasted slightly better. That said, beer is very high in calories, so if you want to stay in shape, it’s best to limit your intake.
Walking down a long corridor, you can see large tanks outside the window, followed by the modern production line of the Tsingtao Brewery. Everything from canning to labeling to packing is fully automated, requiring only minimal manual intervention—the workers inside must be pretty bored… The entire viewing area is built as a walkway on the second floor of the production workshop, flanked by large glass windows. LED screens indicate which product is currently being produced on each line. One side features the bottling line, while the other has the canning line; it’s actually quite interesting if you observe carefully.
Further along, you’ll find a gift shop and a restaurant. The items in the gift shop seem decent enough. Overall, personally, I’m not a big fan of turning a company into a tourist attraction that charges admission. I’m not particularly passionate about Tsingtao Beer either—aside from finding the beer quite tasty at the brewery, I didn’t feel much else. An hour is plenty of time to cover the whole site; anyway, it’s one of those places where a single check-in visit is sufficient.
Photos in this post taken with a SONY A5100 + 16-50 f3.5-5.6, post-processed in Lightroom.
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