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qingdao is a frequent visitor on the annual “china’s most happy cities ranking”.friends in qingdao all say that they feel very lucky to live in qingdao, a city where they can see the sea at any time and take a "sea bath".

butqingdao people don’t really care about the so-called happiness rankings, nor do they pay any attention to the warnings about the city being the “gout capital”. they turn around and hold plastic bags of draft beer in their hands; even when eating seafood, they will not forget the tradition of dipping green onions in sauce and mixing sea silkworms with coriander; when they are too drunk on beer, they will even eat wild wontons in the streets and alleys… no matter how time flies, qingdao people just want to live to their heart’s content.

after zibo became popular last year, heze was all over the news again this year. which shandong city will be the next to become popular?

no matter who it is, the city with the most traffic in "hospitable shandong" is still qingdao. when chinese tourists go to sanya or sunbathe on foreign beaches, qingdao is one of the chinese cities that foreigners love to visit the most.

everyone who arrives in qingdao will feel a modern temperament, making people feel as if they have arrived in switzerland in northern europe.

walking towards the qingdao courtyard in the old city, you come to your senses and realize that this is qingdao, shandong!

qingdao's courtyards are in no way inferior to beijing's quadrangle courtyards, shanghai's alleys and fujian's earthen buildings. the ancient flavor of old qingdao is hidden in the historical buildings that are orderly amidst the chaos.

liyuan is a unique traditional residential building in qingdao. it is a clever combination of western-style buildings and quadrangle courtyards, and is a witness to the history of qingdao people. (photo/tuchong creative)

qingdao in the shandong urban cluster is like a graceful and elegant hanfu men's group, from which a dance master who skillfully combines folk dance and street dance emerges.

with the same modern temperament, shanghai is all about wine and coffee, while qingdao is all about beer and seafood. every summer, qingdao is the home turf. is there anything more magical than drinking beer, eating clams, and taking a bath in the sea?

01

the lives of qingdao people

all of them are given by plastic bags of loose beer

anyone who has been to qingdao knows that there is a strange phenomenon in qingdao - in summer, when walking in the streets and alleys of qingdao, you can see people everywhere holding plastic bags with bags of yellow liquid hanging from them. what is this qingdao special brine?

it was not until i saw some people drinking beer with a straw inserted while walking and finishing it right when they reached the subway entrance that i realized that this was draft beer. there was also a notice on the qingdao subway that said "do not bring draft beer into the subway."

the pronunciation of "drink" in qingdao dialect is "ha", and drinking beer is a culture that qingdao people have in their bones. qingdao's beer habit is universal, not only strong men, but also men and women, young and old, drinking beer in summer can prolong life. children here have tasted a little beer with chopsticks since they can remember.

qingdao people, regardless of gender or age, love to drink beer. (photo/tuchong creative)

as a result, the outside world always has this misunderstanding about qingdao people: "do you all have a tap at home that flows out beer?"

don't believe a qingdao person who says, "i just can't drink beer. i'll get dizzy after three or four bottles." if you hear this, don't be naive and drink with such a qingdao person. they'll make you lie down in a few minutes. you should know that qingdao people drink beer in bundles, and a bundle is 10 bottles.

no wonder people say qingdao people are really addicted to alcohol. someone has done statistics and found that in the more than 130 beer houses on yingkou road in qingdao, the amount of tsingtao beer people drink every night is as heavy as 26 cars. the draft beer barrels that are finished every day can be piled up as high as the dubai tower.

the only way to drink beer is through infusion in qingdao. (photo/screenshot from weibo)

there is also a very interesting word in qingdao called "jiu biaozi", which refers to people who can drink beer very well, especially those guys who set up a small table and sit in a horse stance at a roadside stall. if they don't drink beer, they say they are from qingdao, but if they drink too much, qingdao is theirs.

qingdao people's addiction to alcohol dates back to the late 19th century, when qingdao became a german colony. more than a hundred years ago, the word "beer" did not exist in chinese dictionaries, but the germans had already brought beer to china, starting with qingdao.

in order to meet the demand for beer from germans and some westerners in china, businessmen from germany jointly invested and established the german beer company in qingdao. this is the predecessor of qingdao beer factory no. 1.

the people of qingdao who first came into contact with beer translated the german word bier into "leather wine". later, because it tasted refreshing, it was changed to "spleen wine". because of the action of "drinking", our current name "beer" appeared in the "qingdao outline" in 1922.

from the initial discomfort of calling it "horse urine", to the 1920s, when chinese restaurants began to serve beer, beer began to become a standard for the upper class, and drinking beer was a luxury.

later it had the same name as qingdao (the german word "tsingtau" means qingdao). gradually, beer became a necessity for ordinary people to relieve fatigue and fill their hunger in the era of material scarcity. it walked out of the dimly lit western restaurants and into the bustling streets and alleys.

watching the tsingtao beer ads from the 1930s, you can see how wild the ambitions were, and the beautiful heroes all loved to drink it.

qingdao people never hesitate to drink beer, and there are many ways to drink beer, some of which seem incredible. the earliest beer drinking utensils were large porcelain bowls. ordinary workers like rickshaw drivers drank beer in large bowls as a way to relax and replenish their energy. in the early 1980s, qingdao people used kettles, thermoses, and even buckets to get beer.

not only do people use plastic bags to mix up beer, but qingdao people also use straws to sip beer, which has become an internationally renowned performance art.

as for why we use plastic bags to tap beer, it is said that this is the way to tap beer to make it freshest. after tapping, you have to use a straw to suck it. even foreigners are scrambling to imitate it, and it has become the internationally renowned "qingdao style".

what really made tsingtao beer famous was the qingdao international beer festival, which started in 1991. this festival is more important to qingdao people than the spring festival. every august, thousands of people flock to the streets, and the scale is growing year by year, attracting tourists from all over the world to qingdao to drink. the beer festival has long become a cultural symbol of qingdao and a world-famous name for summer carnival.

qingdaowest coast beer city. (photo/tuchong creative）

the qingdao international beer festival from july to august 2024 received 6.36 million tourists, who drank more than 2,800 tons of beer, which almost made the entire city drunk.

today, "tsingtao beer" has not only occupied the entire chinese market, but has also been exported to more than 40 countries around the world. for qingdao people, it has long been more than just a local drink. with its dual characteristics of western colors and local elements, it has already completed the "self" that qingdao people are proud of.

02

speaking of qingdao,

it's like there's endless seafood

it is not just tsingtao beer that makes qingdao people become wine lovers. for qingdao people, harbin beer is incomplete without plump and delicious hongdao clams.

qingdao is located in the temperate zone of the yellow sea, so locals have never lacked seafood. starting in spring, they wait for prawns, goby shrimps, razor clams, octopus and other seafood to be available.

in summer, the local large seafood such as grouper, yellow croaker, knife fish, mackerel, crab, sea cucumber and abalone are mouth-watering again, but the small seafood is more famous, including clams, pipe fish, sea intestines and various snails.

(photo/pexels)

the fishing season is just around the corner, and it is the most enviable time in qingdao. many qingdao natives like to sit in the streets or in beer houses by the sea. some of them don’t have a big sign, but just a few tables and chairs, and stainless steel barrels filled with fresh beer are piled up at the door to start a drinking party.

a plate of clams, a few small fish, razor clams, squid and other small seafood can satisfy these diners.

qingdao people are honest and choose seafood for its freshness. no matter how cheap the seafood is, everyone loves it and will get addicted to it. here, seafood is usually called "sea goods". these sea goods have authentic qingdao names. for example, clams are pronounced "ga-la", conchs are called "bo-luo", and small conchs are called "xiangbo luo" or "gulu"...

(photo/tuchong creative)

qingdao’s seafood dishes are salty but not cloying, spicy but not pungent, and they are especially popular for thin frying, sautéing, and steaming. spicy stir-fried clams, cabbage-fried shrimp, abalone in its original shell, scallion-fried sea cucumber, braised spanish mackerel, and scallion-mixed octopus are all signature seafood dishes that dominate the streets of qingdao on summer nights.

the real old qingdao people, in addition to knowing how to enjoy the seafood at qingdao ha beer, also know that when eating flatbreads or pancakes, they should also eat them with salted fish, dried shrimps or shrimp paste; and that steamed scallops, clams, conchs and oysters should be dipped in vinegar and mashed garlic, which is the taste that only authentic qingdao people know.

(photo/tuchong creative)

in addition, qingdao people have a magic weapon to sober up - "wild wontons".

how wild are these wontons? there are only a few small tables, where you can sit in a horse stance and eat with the barbecue. if you want to encounter qingdao wild wontons, go there at 10 o'clock in the evening, after drinking beer, pay attention to the roadside or intersection, there will usually be a wonton stall with a small cart, which is so simple and narrow that you may miss it in a minute.

the wontons are thin in skin and big in filling. the wonton soup is made from long-cooked pork ribs. it is perfect for night owls who work all night, drink and play mahjong. qingdao people love this dish and have developed a love for it since childhood.

03

where does qingdao people’s sense of pride come from?

i don’t know if you have noticed that when people from qingdao talk about qingdao, they always have an unstoppable look of pride on their faces.

indeed, qingdao has something to be proud of. in terms of hardware strength, qingdao's pride comes from the fact that they have more than just a "sewer system" that is worthy of being called a god. in a tv dating show, a male guest from qingdao proudly said to a female guest: "come to qingdao, we never have to worry about traffic jams when going to and from get off work on rainy days!"

qingdao has too many eye-catching brand families - haier, hisense, doublestar, aucma, crrc sifang... the olympic sailing competition in the past ten years has been enough to make qingdao, the "sailing capital", the focus of the world's attention.

(photo/tuchong creative)

in terms of appearance, qingdao is very easy to fall in love with at first sight. when you take a bus from central shandong to qingdao, you will find that this coastal city is really fashionable: blue sea and blue sky, mountains and sea, green trees and red tiles, and various historical buildings with european style in the old city...

the atmosphere of these scenes creates a fairy-tale artistic flavor, which will make you feel that the reputation of "oriental switzerland" is well-deserved. no wonder liang shiqiu regarded qingdao as a paradise in "remembering qingdao", saying that "among all the cities in the country, qingdao is the cleanest one."

(photo/tuchong creative)

when you walk on the streets of qingdao, you will find that most people here dress fashionably, even boldly. especially the aunties and grandmothers in qingdao, who love to wear all kinds of bright colors and patterns, revealing a confident style.

oh, by the way, if you still remember, the internationally renowned fashion style "face kini" was invented by qingdao aunties. almost every year, foreign media report on "qingdao face kini".

facekinis have become popular all over the world.

of course, qingdao people's foreign style may only be revealed when you ask for directions. qingdao people are not only big in size and drink a lot, but also speak loudly. before you ask for directions, someone will come over and ask you: are you asking for directions? even if it is a girl who looks gentle and shy, her accent inadvertently reveals a kind of thick and simple temperament.

if you want to experience the most unsophisticated qingdao, go to a beer house and watch the qingdao guys patting their chests on the table. at first glance, they sound tough and a bit difficult to mess with, but after getting to know them, you will find that qingdao dialect is bold and straightforward in nature, which is very flavorful and powerful.

(photo/tuchong creative)

when a group of people travel together, if one of them is from qingdao, the trip will definitely not be boring and will be very comfortable. because you don't have to worry about being estranged with them. qingdao people are genuine, warm-hearted and rough, and they are best at straightening out complicated things. it's no big deal.

no matter how messy the feather duster is, he will definitely avoid pulling the feathers. without further ado, his action is very strong.

yes, this is qingdao. before you have time to be surrounded by the fairy and foreign atmosphere of the seaside, you have already begun to feel the grandeur and sloppiness of this city.

(photo/tuchong creative)

no wonder this city was once compared to a "rag embroidered with lace". although it doesn't sound very nice, in my opinion, this is exactly the flavor of life in qingdao, which is lively and free.

it is said that places with oceans are blessed by god. the yellow sea has long become the soul and spiritual atmosphere of this city. qingdao people have grown up in such an atmosphere of adventurous, bold and open.

qingdao is a frequent visitor in the annual "china's most happy cities ranking". my qingdao friends all say that they feel very lucky to live in qingdao, a city where they can see the sea at any time and "take a sea bath".

(photo/tuchong creative)

this pride may come from a natural sense of comfort, and people in qingdao don’t really care about the so-called happiness rankings, nor do they pay any attention to warnings about the city being the “gout capital”.

they turn around and hold a plastic bag of draft beer in their hands; even when eating seafood, they will not forget the tradition of eating green onion dipped in sauce and coriander mixed with sea silkworms; when they are too drunk for beer, they will squat in the streets and eat wild wontons...

even if qingdao looks gorgeous and fashionable to outsiders, it can't hide its simple and nostalgic local sentiment. who says that being fashionable can't be down-to-earth? qingdao is the city that i have seen that combines these two seemingly incompatible temperaments in the most authentic and comfortable way.

the core of qingdao's real attraction is precisely this kind of exotic cultural conflict, but also the temperament of coexistence with the region. the foreign style of the new city does not disturb the tranquility of the old city.

(photo/tuchong creative)

the shandong soul of qingdao people lies in the old city, where the confucian culture and the way of managing the family are always present. the philosophy of life that is down-to-earth and rooted in the soil is peace and joy. no matter how time flies, qingdao people just want to live "as they please". ("as they please" means comfortable in qingdao dialect)

this does not prevent the new generation of qingdao people, nurtured by marine culture, from looking around the world, bravely exploring new horizons, and enjoying surfing against the wind in the tide of the times.

just like tsingtao beer, it doesn’t matter whether it comes from germany or not. the true spirit of wine has long been merged into the yellow sea in the turbulence of history and flows in the blood of every qingdao citizen.