Elixir of life

The annual Qingdao Beer Festival concludes with nearly 4 million people from all over the world downing 1,100 tons of freshly brewed premium beer. Xie Chuanjiao and Dai Yan report.

Ren Zhiqiang, one knee on the ground, is proposing to his girlfriend Xiao Hong. Only, instead of a ring, he is holding a mug of beer. Xiao, by now in tears, grabs the mug and downs its contents in one go, signaling her "yes" to the proposal. The couple then hug and kiss as hundreds of people gathered around them cheer lustily.

The setting of this romantic drama is the 21th Qingdao International Beer Festival, claimed to be the largest of its kind in Asia, which concluded on Sunday in the coastal city Qingdao, Shandong province. The city shot to international prominence for hosting the sailing competition of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.