Raising a toast to the world's future

A 1947 TV commercial, for instance, likens Tsingtao to apples: "A bottle a day keeps the doctor away."

(Here's to your health!)

Locals say: "Qingdao's history is Tsingtao's history."

Photos show how in the 1970s, residents gulped beer from jars. They swilled from bowls in the '80s. And they bought brews in plastic bags in the '90s.

(The old factory built by Germans was used until a few years ago.)

Today, locals make it a point to teach outsiders the phrase "drink beer and eat clams" in the Qingdao dialect.

Also, in the native parlance, peanuts are called "beer nuts". They're served in the museum's room for interactive displays and video games about Tsingtao beer making and are meant to whet the appetite－for the tasting room.

Visitors can claim some fame by getting their photos printed on customized take-home bottles.

(Other souvenirs include chocolates shaped like Tsingtao bottles and cans.)

While the museum is devoted to production, the surrounding neighborhood is dedicated to consumption.

Everlasting Beer Street is chockablock with beer gardens and bars. Manhole covers sport cute cartoons of Chinese zodiac animals with frothy mugs. Different creatures correspond to the respective years the city hosts its international beer festival.

Indeed, visitors discover Tsingtao beer isn't only part of Qingdao city's past but also raises a toast to the world's future.