[Photos by Zhang Xiaotian and Yu Fengliang]

With the oppressive summer heat hitting the capital, Beijing residents have been known to enjoy a few more cold ones than usual. While many take to popping the cap and chugging the bottle, some wipe away the cool condensation and give a thought to the source of these cold brews, a magical place where temperate weather and wide expanses of beaches make that brew go down even easier. But before trading your bar stool for a hard sleeper to Qingdao, there are two questions to consider: First, does the beer get better the closer you get to the source? And second, can Qingdao party?

The answer to the first question is an emphatic yes, as you'll discover at the Tsingtao Brewery Museum. The tour starts with a history lesson: Everyone knows that Tsingtao was founded by the Germans, but did you know about its post-WWI years under Japanese management? A mid-tour glass of unfiltered beer is perhaps more enlightening -and the finest glass of Tsingtao you will ever taste. Back on the tour, inspect the current brewery and marvel at the endless queue of bottles on the brewery floor below and then head to the "drunk simulator," a room where the floor is tilted to recreate the sensation of bidding the bar farewell after a few too many. Enjoy a pitcher of just-brewed suds at the Tsingtao pub to close the tour.

If you like what you tasted, then you'll love Qingdao, the city. For a truly local experience, try the "loose beer" (sanpi) at one of the countless corner stores where kegs are stacked outside. Sold by weight (at a ridiculously cheap RMB 1.5 per jin), sanpi is sold ice cold for take away in plastic bags.

Sun, surf and bottomless bags of beer...but what fun is getting hopped up if it's only before sundown? Qingdao nightlife begins with its top-end club, Q Bar, designed by the same team behind Beijing¡¯s Centro. But Q's manager, Philip Peng (the same man behind Phil's Pub, one of the last bars standing on Sanlitun's South Bar Street) noted that the evolution of the local scene has been slow. "People here like to stick with what they know," he explained, "so even when a quality new place opens, they prefer to stay with their old routine." With top shelf cocktails, a cigar bar, and what is surely the best sound system in town, Q Bar has been able to instill a bit of class and persuade the Qingdao elite to use glasses instead of swigging from the bottle.

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