Tsingtao Beer Museum in the city of Qingdao, Eastern China's Shandong province. [Photo/qingdaonews.com]   

Established in August 2003, Tsingtao Beer Museum combines a sense of history with a truly modern setting. 

The museum is located at No 58 Dengzhou Road, the "birthplace of Tsingtao beer" where for more than a century Tsingtao has produced its quality beverage for domestic and international markets. 

According to official statistics, 28 million yuan ($4.24 million) has been invested to make this, the first professional beer museum in China, a multi-media tourist attraction comprising beer-tasting, brewing archives and a state-of-the-art display area.

Divided into History & Culture of a Century and Production and Multi-Media sections, the Tsingtao Beer Museum covers over 6,000 square meters and gives visitors a rare insight into the origins and long history of Tsingtao Beer.

The History & Culture Section forms the core of the museum. Here, visitors follow in the footsteps of numerous VIPs to learn the secrets of beer production and the long history of Tsingtao and its many honors. Through archive material they also learn the history of the city's famous International Beer Festival. 

The Beer Production Area uses interactive methods to allow visitors to feel a part of the process: video displays in each section show time-lines of the history and development of beer production. Models of old buildings, brewing techniques, equipment and workers in their workshops, evoke scenes of a bygone age. 

The first floor of the Multi-Media Area gives up to 100 visitors a chance to taste fresh Tsingtao beer before they browse for souvenirs. The second floor hosts an array of interactive equipment, which is both entertaining and educational. 

As the only beer museum in China, Qingdao Beer Museum has been named a key national preservation unit of cultural relics and a 4A national tourist attraction, and has become a model of industrial tourism.