Germany & China: The Munich Oktoberfest to be exported to China

The Munich Oktoberfest, the annual festival of beer, is to be exported to China, in the city of Guangzhou, the German state of Bavaria announced on April 26. Bavaria's Europe Minister Eberhard Sinner has signed a licence agreement with the southern Chinese industrial province of Guangzhou to hold a version of the Oktoberfest there.

Thus the Chinese city of Guangzhou gathered to the chain of cities around the world that celebrate the state's famous Oktoberfest beer-drinking festival. Guangzhou will join Asian cities like Taiwanese capital Taipei and Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur which take time out once a year to join in the Oktoberfest celebrations and quaff beer by the one-litre stein, accompanied by traditional Bavarian "oompah" music.

The original Oktoberfest, described as the world's biggest public festival, takes place this year in Munich from September 17 to October 3. Last year's event in Munich, the Bavarian state capital, attracted just under six million people who drank an average of around one litre (1.8 pints) of beer each.