With a bevy of brews on tap at this year's Qingdao International Beer Festival, organizers have gone all out to bring a visual feast to the party, too, Li Yingxue and Xie Chuanjiao report.

Drinking beer and eating clams has long been a way of life for people in the coastal city of Qingdao, and now tourists can pull up a seat and join the locals in celebrating the tradition.

The 28th Qingdao International Beer Festival kicked off on July 20 and will run for a record 38 days at multiple venues across the port city in East China's Shandong province.

And since Qingdao played host to the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit on June 9 and 10, this year's festival will feature a wide range of beers and artists from SCO countries.

At the festival venue in the Xihai'an (West Coast) New Area that stretches across 800,000 square meters in the city's Huangdao district, more than 200 beer brands from over 30 countries are available for thirsty visitors to sample.

Ten revelry tents and three leisure tents have been set up to keep tourists and locals fed and their thirst quenched with a mind-boggling array of beers and snacks.

The leisure tents take on a new form this year, offering a blend of light music and fine dining.

Ge Weijie, manager of the International Beer Tent, one of the three leisure tents, says they have prepared a range of beers from such countries as Germany, Belgium, Japan and South Korea.

"This year's beer festival provides around 1,300 types of beers, and 1,000 of them can be found here," says Ge. "We also have beers from SCO countries, such as Russia and Kazakhstan."

Ge runs a beer-experience center in Qingdao, where people can learn about how to make different types of beer and sample brews from different countries.

"Unlike other revelry tents that are crowded with loud music, our tent is a quiet place where you can sit down and enjoy the beer and food casually," says Ge.

"We have paired Chinese and Western dishes to match the different kinds of beers, from (kebab-like) chuan'er to baked lobster with cheese."

Local seafood complements the beer that can be found in every tent. According to Ge, besides shrimp and clams from Qingdao, they also offer Argentine red shrimp and Japanese scallops.

The more than a monthlong bacchanal carnival is not just about drinking beer, but is also a great way to spend the summer enjoying entertainment by the sea.

The Phoenix Fire Dance Show is a must-see showcase that gathers more than 160 fire performers from over 40 countries, kicking off at 8 pm every day during the festival.

The show had its world premiere at the opening ceremony of the festival on July 20 at the Golden Beach Beer City in Huangdao.

It combines plays, dances and acrobatics - where the performers stage all their stunts with fire in their hands - in one breathtaking production. Wang Gong, the general director of the show and executive director of cultural events at the beer festival, says the show gathers "almost all the people who can best play with fire" together on stage.

"It took us four months to select the performers from around the world as it's not easy to find professional fireshow actors," says Wang. "It was also a challenge because they tend to travel a great deal, so we had to set up offices in Los Angeles, Mexico City and Vienna in Austria - as well as here in Qingdao - to coordinate and communicate with our performers."

The fire-dance show will be presented in six sections: Prologue, Ancient Fire, Power Fire, Love Fire, Future Fire and Carnival Fire.

According to Wang, the show uses stage sets, special effects and cutting-edge lighting - thousands of individual lights and over 40 lasers - to bring out the beauty of fire.

"It's the highlight of this year's beer festival. And the 80-minute show does not have any lines or lyrics, which makes it easier for the audience to focus on the visual performances," Wang says.

Co-director of the show, Briton Marc Brouard, has more than three decades of experience with fire show performances. "This is the largest stage production that I've ever taken part in," he says.

According to Brouard, the show combines a range of artistic styles from around the world, including China, India and the Philippines.

"The show connects classic cultures from different countries, and I'm excited to bring this new art form to Chinese audiences," says Brouard. "It took us a whole year to plan, create and rehearse."

Alongside the beer festival, an international music festival is being hosted at the newly built Sound of the Phoenix Grand Theater. Pianist Lang Lang kicked off the music event and was followed by 30 other performances.

Global City International Circus is presenting a show specially designed for the beer festival that will take place between the beer tents and can seat up to 1,500 people.

Contact the writers through liyingxue@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 08/03/2018 page19)