TSINGTAO

On Dec 22, the western African coastal city of Monrovia, capital of Liberia, was lit up by the country’s first-ever beer festival, held by Chinese leading brewery Tsingtao.

The city’s SKD Stadium, built with China’s assistance, became a sea of joy with music and dances, and Tsingtao beer became a common language for the participants coming from different countries and regions.

The news conference for the beer festival was held on Dec 20, and after that, a series of events were organized, including a mini marathon, soccer matches and trade fairs, bridging the city with Qingdao, home of Tsingtao, which sits some 13,000 km away.

“We know Tsingtao is an international brand and the beer festival is not just about people’s joy and dream, but also will boost the development of Liberia’s cultural and tourism businesses,” said Liberian Deputy Minister of Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism Lance Gbayongon at the news conference.

Nathaniel F. McGill, Liberia’s minister of state for presidential affairs, said many of Qingdao’s products have entered the Liberian market, and the two sides boast well-established cooperation. With such events as the Tsingtao Beer Festival, the economic and cultural exchanges between the two countries will be closer and greater cooperation potential will be tapped to achieve win-win results, he said.

Chinese Ambassador to Liberia Fu Jijun said the Tsingtao Beer Festival is a new platform for China-Liberia friendship as economic and trade cooperation is a very important way to promote economic development and people-to-people exchanges.

More than 10,000 people have participated in the beer festival, including locals, international tourists and representatives of Chinese companies that used the event as a platform for trade and promotion.

A local resident said posters with the festival’s slogan “One Beer, One Festival, One World” could be seen across the city since a month before, and the event became one of the hottest topics among local people. Some of them even learned to say “Tsingtao” instead of “Hello” when greeting Asian visitors.

Liberia is Tsingtao’s largest market in Africa, where it is one of the most popular imported beers. Thanks to more than a decade’s business development in Liberia, Qingdao has become one of the best known Chinese cities for locals.

The country is the first stop of the Tsingtao Beer Festival’s Belt and Road tour, which is planned to be held in 15 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, including Singapore, South Korea and Germany. The campaign is aimed to build a new festival model combining beer, city promotion, trade and tourism.