Over 10,000 people from both at home and abroad participated in the opening ceremony of the festival, which will last for 11 days.

Qingdao is well known for its German-style beer. A survey of 35 large and medium-sized Chinese cities showed that Qingdao residents spent an average of 202.74 yuan on alcoholic drinks per person last year, ranking third after Xiamen and Beijing.

The Tsingtao Beer Group's total assets have surpassed seven billion yuan (about US$843.4 million) and it has the capability of producing more than three million tons of beer each year. Not only does it brew and sell the most beer in China, it is also the country's number one beer exporter.

(Xinhua News Agency 08/18/2001)