Never let it be said that we didn't give the Qingdao International Beer Festival (QIBF) a second chance. We went one more time, and I'm sure it will be the last. Soon after we posted our unenthusiastic review of the QIBF, we discovered we had gone to the wrong place. The Beer Festival has three separate locations, and we had gone to a smaller one. We felt both foolish and relieved. We decided to correct our mistake and go to the biggest venue. We even unposted our initial review. When we first arrived we were impressed. Some of the world's biggest breweries were represented, along with promising looking lesser knowns. There were also roller coasters and other carnival rides and it looked like everyone was having fun. After cruising the grounds of the Festival we decided to search out a Hefe-Weissen. Something light to cool us off on a hot day. We found what we were looking for at the Paulaner tent. Most of the tents offer the same hyper-employment driven model of customer service that you'll find in Chinese department stores, and the Paulaner tent was no exception. We were ushered into the tent and seated at a table to be attended to by at least three giggling college students. We were unable to communicate what we wanted, so we went up to the bar and pointed out a can of Hefe-Weissen. It was wonderful. Next, we went to a friendly looking tent sponsored by Wernesgruener Beer. Once again, they didn't want us going to the bar. The problem is that we can't read Chinese well enough to understand a menu, and we don't have a beer-specific vocabulary for speaking to a waitress. Josh went to the bar to point out what he wanted. At this point, I should describe what the bar looked like. The Wernesgruener tent was gigantic. It actually housed the Jim Beam stand, as well. It was decorated in , green and white, and Josh remembered it having a nice wooden bar with Wernesgruener taps. A few feet behind the bar, there was six foot tall, green curtain that made a corridor between the bar and the wall of the tent flap. When Josh went to the bar and ordered a Wernesgruener Pils, the bartender took a glass and passed it to his colleague behind the curtain. The glass was then filled three quarters full from an unseen keg, passed back under the curtain to the bar and given a head of foam from the Wernesgruener tap. "Whoa! Why did you do that? I don't want that beer," said Josh, "I want Wernesgruener." "Same, same," said the bartender. "If they are the same, why are you using two kegs? Why is one of them hidden behind a curtain?" "Why don't you drink Tsingtao Beer?" "I drink Tsingtao Beer all the time. I love Tsingtao, but this is an international beer festival, and I didn't order a Tsingtao. I ordered a Wernesgruener." Josh was laughing while he said it, trying to save face and make it easier for them to give him a real, imported beer, which we think they did. They had to adjust the tap settings, but they were willing to draft an entire beer from the keg AT the bar. But just to make sure, we decided to order a draft of Tsingtao from the same tent. Again, the prices were extortionate (a small Wernesgruener was 50 RMB/7 USD - the small Tsingtao draft from the Wernesgruener tent was 40 RMB, which is about thirty times what it costs just 50 meters outside the gate of Beer City, where the festival is held), but we decided it was worth it for a little Pepsi challenge. Josh stopped smiling when a waitress delivered us a pint glass half full of foam. As we walked out of the Beer Festival we were approached by a reporter from a local TV station. He wanted to interview us about the Beer Festival. At first, I was ready to unleash all of my disappointment on camera, but Joshua's instincts were better. He told the interviewer and cameraman not to interview us. He told the interviewer that we had just had a very bad experience, and that we didn't want to ruin other people's impressions of the festival. The interviewer said he was very sorry to hear about our bad experience, and he wanted to interview us about it. No, Josh said, it would be better to talk to someone else. The SDETV/CCTV audience will be spared all of our bile, but Peer-See readers get the straight dope. If you are ever in Qingdao in the month of August, skip the Beer Festival. This city has plenty of better places to share a pitcher with friends.