Maria Chiang Ut Meng in Qingdao
A local English- and Portuguese-language media delegation organised by the Central People’s Government Liaison Office in the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) visited yesterday the world-famous Tsingtao Brewery in the northern port city of Qingdao.
“Tsingtao” is the former spelling of Qingdao, a city of 10 million inhabitants.
During the visit, Jessie Xiao Yue, business manager of International Headquarters Tsingtao Brewery Co. Ltd, told the media delegation from Macau that the brewery “nowadays is not only focused on producing beer but also to offer its customers a cultural experience.”
The brewery was established by an Anglo-German joint venture in 1903 with an investment of 400,000 Mexican silver dollars. Initially, the brewery was known as Germania. The company says that nowadays it has a brand value of 264 billion yuan and ranks among the world’s 500 most influential brands. It is China’s most valued beer brand and one of the world’s most famous breweries.
Qingdao was under temporary German administration between 1898 and 1914, when it was seized by Japan. It finally returned to China’s rightful control at the end of WWII in 1945.
Tsingtao Brewery also says that it produces some 18 billion bottles of beer every year, averaging 400,000 bottles of its various kinds of beer being uncapped every minute around the world.
Tsingtao has been Macau's best-stelling beer for decades.
The delegation arrived in Qingdao on Sunday. The 10 delegation members comprise Lúcia Deng Le, deputy director of Liaison Office’s Department of Publicity and Culture; Han Chao, assistant director of its Department of Publicity and Culture; Elena Au Son Wa, chief of the Publicity and Promotion Division of the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS); and local journalists Carlos Morais José, director of Hoje Macau; José Carlos Matias, executive director of Macau Business; André Teixeira Jegundo, head of Rádio Macau; José Encarnação, editor of the Portuguese section of O Clarim; Maria Cheang Ut Meng, managing editor and chief reporter of The Macau Post Daily; TDM journalists Joana Freitas and Un Hoi I; and TDM cameraman Agostinho Poon Fernando.
The delegation yesterday also visited Hisense Group, a Chinese multinational major appliance and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Qingdao. The delegation is scheduled to arrive in Qufu city this evening, where its members will attend the 10th Nishan Forum on World Civilisation, which will have its opening ceremony tomorrow.
The delegation is slated to return to Macau on Friday.
All photos taken yesterday during the local media delegation’s visit to Tsingtao Brewery and its museum in Qingdao, showing, among others, Jessie Xiao Yue, business manager of International Headquarters Tsingtao Brewery Co. Ltd (third photo from the top) talking to members of the delegation, as well most of the members posing with a banner (photo at the bottom).
– Photos: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
