China beats summer heat with festive pints

From now till August, 50-plus beer festivals are slated to be held in major brewing cities such as Chongqing, Harbin in Heilongjiang province and Qingdao. On Friday, the Qingdao beer festival recorded reservations for more than 150,000 visits, sources among the organizers said.
 
The Qingdao festival has introduced more than 2,000 varieties of beer from more than 40 countries and regions. To help visitors enrich their experience, the festival has organized more than 300 music and sports events on the theme of beer.
 
Sales of beverages like beer will likely surge given the current spell of heat waves, said Jason Yu, general manager of Kantar Worldpanel China. The Chongqing Beer Festival, which opened on July 8, has already notched up more than 200,000 people at times, up 350 per cent from non-festival days.
 
Chongqing Beer, a brand of Carlsberg China, said it has taken part in the beer festival as well as local musical and hotpot festivals. “This year’s beer festival is more keen to focus on younger people and on the socializing side,” Chongqing Beer said in a statement.
 
Analyst Zhu said the culture of beer festivals traditionally tended to appeal to the macho side of mostly male consumers. But this year, beer festivals in China have gradually grown into platforms or events for exhibition of trendy lifestyle choices, he said.