Qingdao native Zhang Juanjuan, who won a women's individual archery gold medal at the Beijing Olympic Games, shot an arrow to open the first barrel of beer.
The ceremony was followed with a song and dance gala. Chinese medalists from the Olympic delegation were in the audience... helping to celebrate this year's theme of "Celebrating the Olympics, Cheering with the World". Entertainment and games have also been set up on the grounds of the festival, which hopes to boost tourism in Qingdao in the post-Olympic period.
Saturday's opening day festivities were swarmed with tourists from around China and the world.
Qingdao has been dedicated to brewing top-notch beer for 105 years now. The Qingdao International Beer Festival was established in 1991, receiving more than 30 million tourists over the past 17 years.
(CCTV September 24, 2008)
