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A beer drinker's paradise.
Stu_of_Kunming
Posts: 17,118
So, for the last 8 months I have lived in Yangzhou, sadly the beer here is horrible, the taste is horrible and it averages about 3.2% so a night of drinking beer results in a headache and a horrible bloated feeling before any sort of drunkenness.
This week my girlfriend and I visited Qingdao, a coastal city to the north of China. Qingdao is the home of the most popular beer in the world, Tsingtao, a company started by the Germans in 1903.
Qingdao is littered with people sitting on the street with their barrels lined up selling beer at 20p a pint, the taste is amazing and is normally around 5%.
Now, if you don't want to sit at these "street bars" and drink, like many of the locals, the done thing is to have the boss fill a plastic bag of beer for you that you can then carry home to sup on.
Add this to all the amazing seafood on offer and Qingdao is not only the best city I've ever visited in my life, it is also a beer drinkers heaven.
The other major plus for was all the men have nice big beer bellies, so unlike in Yangzhou, I fit in perfectly.
Roll on September when I finish my contract in Yangzhou, the girlfriend and I will be on the first train to Qingdao, hopefully already with a job secured.
Who wouldnt want a life like this:
This week my girlfriend and I visited Qingdao, a coastal city to the north of China. Qingdao is the home of the most popular beer in the world, Tsingtao, a company started by the Germans in 1903.
Qingdao is littered with people sitting on the street with their barrels lined up selling beer at 20p a pint, the taste is amazing and is normally around 5%.
Now, if you don't want to sit at these "street bars" and drink, like many of the locals, the done thing is to have the boss fill a plastic bag of beer for you that you can then carry home to sup on.
Add this to all the amazing seafood on offer and Qingdao is not only the best city I've ever visited in my life, it is also a beer drinkers heaven.
The other major plus for was all the men have nice big beer bellies, so unlike in Yangzhou, I fit in perfectly.
Roll on September when I finish my contract in Yangzhou, the girlfriend and I will be on the first train to Qingdao, hopefully already with a job secured.
Who wouldnt want a life like this:
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Comments
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That bag of beer looks suspect............0
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It tasted damn good ;-)
We also visited the Tsingtao factory/beer museum, which was fanstastic, tons of pictures from there on facebook for those of you that know me.0 -
Stu, what do you do for work if you dont mind me asking...just wondering how you ended up in mainland China0
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I 'teach' oral English out here.
It's a pretty sweet deal, my job is a joke due to how easy it is, I spend 5 hours a day (5 days a week) just talking with students about anything I/they want to talk about.
In return I get paid 9,000 RMB month, the average salary for a local in around 2,500 - so you imagine the sort of lifestyle I get to live.
Coming to China was very much our own choice, although I'd love to do something similar in Thailand one day.0 -
That bag of beer looks suspect............
Recycled beer from Yangzhou?
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Send me a PM if you're ever in Hong Kong, Stu.
Tsingtao ftw.0 -
You teach oral. Lol.0
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Send me a PM if you're ever in Hong Kong, Stu.
I've been wanting to come down to HK for a while, it's just so damned expensive, I will almost certainly be coming in late September/early October as I will have to leave China to get a 'Z' visa in my passport.
Tsingtao ftw.
The Tsingtao in Yangzhou is utter piss, like all the beer, so here I mostly drink spirits with tea.You teach oral. Lol.
Boom boom!
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bumped into your mum in Lee Tescos last week Stu. She said she was excited about coming out to see you soon! lovely lady. She told us you asked her to pick you up from China to bring you back for the Hartlepool game! hehe. Dec remembers her from when we saw you both on the morning of your venture to China when we were heading off to New York at similar times for our 1st anniversary. Can't believe its been 9 months since! what an adventure! enjoy your beer in a bag.0
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Hey Suzi, yeah she mentioned over skype about bumping into you! I still can't believe she didn't come and pick me up, some people eh!
I can't believe it's been that long either, it has literally flown by, which is part of the reason we've decided to stay for another year!
Sadly we flew back to Yangzhou last night, so no more beer in a bag for a few more months :-( hope the move went well for you!0 -
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Bag of beer.....lol
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The drinking from a bag is also awesome because it makes you drink so much faster, nowhere to put it down!!0
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Looking at the bag of beer reminded me a bit of "The soldier in white" in Catch 22. For anyone unfamiliar the soldier in white was in the hospital completely encased in bandages with a drip in his arm and a Catheter coming out the other end. When the bag in his arm was empty and the Catheter bag was full they just swopped them over!0
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Send me a PM if you're ever in Hong Kong, Stu.
got back from working 10 days at HK Conference centre this morning
Tsingtao ftw.0 -
Did you speak any Chinese before you got the job Stu?0
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No, none at all, speaking Chinese in class is not allowed, although I have a few students who are happy to teach my Chinese during class time.
I did a TEFL teaching course, which is a 100 hour online course and a 20 hour weekend course to get qualified to teach here, along with my degree. Saying that many people teach here illegally with no qualifications or a degree.0 -
Have to say sounds like a great job just sitting in a class room chatting to students for 5 hours.
Probably a bit more to it I know.0 -
There is a little more to it, once a week I teach 4/5 year olds which involves running around like a nutter playing with them.
I also do an 'adults business' class once a week, which involves teaching them language they'd need at an airport or a hotel, it's aimed at businessmen who travel abroad.
Most of it's pretty easy and enjoyable, plus in my free time I can get private teaching gigs at roughly 300RMB (£30) an hour, although I prefer to use my free time seeing China or drinking, someone more money orientated could make a lot more than I do. I don't see the point when I only spend about 1/3 of my wages anyway.0 -
Great...glad to see you're getting out and about.0
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Sounds like you've got a good thing going there Stu. A friend of mine is doing the same thing - somehow he ended up with a Chinese girlfriend and he's gone out there to be with her. Previously he was a gas installer.0
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There is a little more to it, once a week I teach 4/5 year olds which involves running around like a nutter playing with them.
You will need the extra wedge for HK, your current wages won't go far there!
I also do an 'adults business' class once a week, which involves teaching them language they'd need at an airport or a hotel, it's aimed at businessmen who travel abroad.
Most of it's pretty easy and enjoyable, plus in my free time I can get private teaching gigs at roughly 300RMB (£30) an hour, although I prefer to use my free time seeing China or drinking, someone more money orientated could make a lot more than I do. I don't see the point when I only spend about 1/3 of my wages anyway.
Even a very basic three star hotel in HK costs around 100 quid per night these days.0 -
I'd only be in Hong Kong for a day or two to get a new visa, I also never stay at hotels, hostels all the way, lastly, I would expect the school to pay my expenses for a trip to HK, infact, I would insist on it.0
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How do they keep the beer chilled if it's outside or in a big bag?0
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I'd only be in Hong Kong for a day or two to get a new visa, I also never stay at hotels, hostels all the way, lastly, I would expect the school to pay my expenses for a trip to HK, infact, I would insist on it.
Ah, hostels! Not done one of them for a good few years.
Anyway, sounds like you are having a great time, good on you for having the balls to get out and see the world - especially such a unique place.
If you have not been to Shanghai yet then do try and go, its an amazing place.
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How do they keep the beer chilled if it's outside or in a big bag?
It's in a barrell. They put it into a bag when you order it.
I've been to Shanghai a few times, it's alright, just doenst feel like China to me. Far too western.
Off to Beijing soon when my parents come to visit, really can't wait for that.
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I'd be interested to hear your view of Beijing - that where I spent most of my time when I visited. I imagine that it may be different to the rest of China.0
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Chungking Mansions then for you when you go to HK!
I was living there when that conference centre was being built Gary. It was where Patten and Prince Charles handed HK back to China. Great looking building as I used to get the ferry in past it each morning.0 -
Salaries for English teachers here are dreadful, just about enough to live on.
I remember being amused the first time I got a takeaway Pepsi in a plastic bag here. It's now just second nature. But I have never had a beer in a plastic bag.I 'teach' oral English out here.
It's a pretty sweet deal, my job is a joke due to how easy it is, I spend 5 hours a day (5 days a week) just talking with students about anything I/they want to talk about.
In return I get paid 9,000 RMB month, the average salary for a local in around 2,500 - so you imagine the sort of lifestyle I get to live.
Coming to China was very much our own choice, although I'd love to do something similar in Thailand one day.0 -
Where's the goldfish gone in that bag?0
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I'd be interested to hear your view of Beijing - that where I spent most of my time when I visited. I imagine that it may be different to the rest of China.
I hope it's better than my view of Shanghai.0
