Skip to main content

The Story of Tsingtao Beer


An extraordinary brand story I discovered while travelling in China’s Shandong Province few years back - the story of Tsingtao beer- a leading brewery export giant in China, founded in 1903 by the Anglo- German Brewery Co Ltd, I thought is worth some space on the BizScribe blog. Tsingtao- an authentic Chinese beer brewed in  once German-controlled coastal region of Qingdao in China’s Shandong Province,  is recognised as the first major brand to offer tourism services in Qingdao region through the establishment of a beer museum.


As very aptly suggested in the beer museum’s tagline - ‘Give us an hour, we’ll give you a century’ this unique location is even preserved by the state as a site of historical interest.  Spread across 6000 square meters, this major tourist hit considered China’s first industrial tourist site, connects its visitors to the origins of the Tsingtao beer.
The museum which opened its doors to the world in 2003 is tucked away down Dengzhou Road in Qingdao - an energetic street that brings to life an absorbing Octoberfest of sort with sidewalks draped with beer gardens, themed shops and eateries. The building with a German styled architectural façade housing the museum, dates back to the time of the brewery’s founders. At the time of my travel, the village was gearing-up to host the annual gala international beer fest which is visited by travellers around the world.  
The multi-storied facility designed to be accessible even by the elderly and the differently-abled, offers a glimpse into the diverse world of Tsingtao beer - from its history and culture to production and processing. 



While a section of the museum covers the models and replicas of traditional equipment, storage cellars, filtration plants and the workers, the fully-fledged visitor information centre presents plenty of background information, literature and photo collections into the legacy of Tsingtao brewery. The authentic beer brand; exported and sold across the world today is manufactured according to the original German recipe combining the spring water from the celebrated Laoshan mountain with malt, hops and rice sourced from the paddy fields of Western China.

Visitors to the site also have the opportunity to engage in interactive activities such as beer tasting sessions, traditional brewing workshops, creative beer workshops and games.  
For those wanting to have a memorabilia or two from this unique experience, the museum’s souvenir shop offers an array of interesting collectibles from themed bottle-openers, key tags to miniature beer, wine and spirit bottles.  

Heading to Shandong Province in China? Check out the Tsingtao Beer Museum!




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

When you tell your signature story…

You are at a networking event and being approached by a stranger.     How do we connect? A simple self-introduction leading to a general conversation during which you get to listen to the STORY he/she chooses to share with you. A story that could essentially reflect on individual’s ideas, opinions, talents, personal philosophy, life’s experiences, accomplishments, trials etc. In doing so, we form our own observations and share with him/ her our own account.   So we connect; and at times may even form life long bonds, given that we feel we are of kindred spirit! In business too, I believe, the rules stay more or less the same. Stories are convincing; remembered and social. A brand tells its ‘signature stories’ so as to strike that deep chord to connect with the consumer- to influence the buyer decision. This is where a feel good type brand story can be skillfully and subtly aligned with the different phases of the buyer journey -at awareness stage, evaluate stage,...

The entrepreneur who enticed the Shark Tank with the story of Modern Christmas Trees

The aspiring entrepreneur Matthew Bliss decided to take a dive into the US reality platform ‘Shark Tank’ seeking an investment  to scale his family tradition turned business- the Modern Christmas Trees . In his intense moment of facing the sharks; armed with his business pitch, the sharks showed no mercy on him!  The billionaire investors -  Lori Greiner, Mark Cuban, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O’Leary and Barbara Corcoran unleashed multiple strikes on him, making Bliss jittery over ‘price points’ and ‘scaling.’   However, fast forward to the end…we see a jubilant entrepreneur with a shark reeled in. What made a shark wanting a piece of his business? To recap; Matthew Bliss had given everything he had on his start up pitch. Yet nothing was good enough to get a shark on board. Realising there wasn’t a moment to lose in this once in a life opportunity he got to chase the American Dream, Bliss began to share the STORY behind the  Modern Christmas Tree s . He skillf...

Why Feature Stories are an essential element in Corporate Content Strategy

Brands need to find ways to constantly engage with their stakeholders; to sustain and grow their business. For this reason it is essential that corporates focus on building an emotional connection with their targeted audiences by tapping into new ways and means of communicating their brand story to those that matter to them – the consumers, potential investors and the employees.  As much as focusing on creating content about the products and services on offer, it is imperative that brands focus on generating content that differentiate them from their competitors.  That’s where showcasing the personality of your brand becomes vital.   Telling the brand story is an art! Giving the corporates a voice through compelling content that appeals to the emotions can be enormously challenging. Crafting a corporate feature story that has an emotional appeal; one that gets picked up by the main stream media or one that goes viral on social media giving the exposu...