If you have ever wanted to experience Qingdao, this is the month to do it. With the city's annual Qingdao International Beer Festival running for two weeks in August, the place is sure to be hopping with booze-hounds – but we think that's what makes it fun. While you are there, don't miss out on soaking up some of the coastal splendour, or sneaking a peek at some of Qingdao's impressive German architecture. Beer, beaches and beautiful remnants of a fascinating colonial past – this place has everything!

"Every summer, from the second weekend of August, Qingdao comes alive to celebrate one of nature’s greatest gifts – beer."

Although it’s known as the Teutonic centre of China, Germany’s influence on Qingdao is now little more than a fading impression. Today, the most noticeable influence from the city’s short-lived days as a German colony is the sheer amount of beer consumed by the locals – with every meal of the day and often in between. The Tsingtao brewery, originally built by the Germans, is still operational and pumping out a thousand tonnes of China’s favourite brew daily.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Germanic influence on Qingdao is how brief it was. After occupying Qingdao in 1897, German settlers started building a model for their East Asian Empire. During their 16 years at the helm, the Germans managed to put an impressive infrastructure in place. Many of the phone and electricity lines, as well as the sewage and drainage systems built by the Germans a century ago are still in use today.

But today’s Qingdao is far more than a throwback to those years of colonisation. This modern city boasts skyscrapers to rival those of any metropolis in China, as well as some of the most respected learning institutes in the country. However, even with the pace of development that has enveloped Qingdao (and every other city in the Middle Kingdom), it is heartening to see the local authorities’ commitment to the preservation of the city’s historical quarters and the surprisingly high quality of restoration work being undertaken.

See

Hui Lan Ge

This Chinese-style pavilion sits over the water at the tip of Zhanqiao Pier and is easily Qingdao’s most photographed sight. You may recognise it from the label of Tsingtao beer, although it has being replaced with a modern sculpture inspired by the May Fourth Movement, called the Winds of May (see below). Nevertheless, Hui Lan Ge remains a favourite site to see and be seen by tourists and locals alike.

12 Taiping Lu (at the foot of Zhongshan Lu). Open: All Day. Admission: Free. Tel: (532) 8288 4548

May Fourth Square

If Hui Lan Ge symbolises Qingdao’s romantic past, May Fourth Square represents its aspirations for the future. At its centre is the distinctive Winds of May, an eye-catchingly modern red sculpture (pictured above). Resembling a twister, it was built to commemorate the May Fourth Movement – one of the most important episodes in modern Chinese history.

Open: All Day. Admission: Free