Douglas Williams/Shanghai Daily news

It's something of a relief to arrive in China and find that for all the strangeness of the Middle Kingdom getting a good beer cheaply couldn't be simpler.
At around four yuan (49 US cents) in most 24 hour convenience stores for a big, glass bottle of fizzy, chilled Tsingtao it would be rude not to have the fridge full to creaking, just in case.
It does, however, take quite some leap then to go from four yuan to the 40 yuan plus being charged in most of the expat bars. The sort of leap, infact, that brings to mind the flea scenario, where if humans could jump as high as a flea, relative to size, we would be able to jump clean over New York's Empire State Building.
A great deal of good work is being done by the city's licensing professionals to provide very useful "happy hours" (some with irritating clauses) but the happiness doesn't usually stretch beyond 8pm when most good nights are still in their infancy. Happy hours can actually have the effect of prematurely curtailing revelries such is the gusto to which some are embraced and this can't be the desired effect for the landlords at all.
The Tsing Tao Beer Pub on Sichuan Road N. on the junction with Jiangwan Road E. offers a happy hour that isn't for the faint hearted. Between the hours of 10am and 6pm thirsty punters with kamikaze tendencies can shell out a measly 28 yuan for free flow Tsingtao Lite (slightly weaker than non-lite but not much). Whilst embarking upon that sort of caper would be clearly ill-advised the Tsing Tao Beer Pub does provide the perfect hostelry for the traditional pre and post match drink. The bar is virtually in the shadow of the magnificent Hongkou Football Stadium, with a 35,000 seating capacity and home to the marginally less magnificent Shanghai Shenhua football team, the number two team in China. Local derby matches pack the stadium out as do matches with Dalian Shide who have secured this year's league which finishes next month. It restarts in February.
Tickets for these matches are upwards of 200 yuan. Super Cup (Zhong Chao) matches attract lesser crowds with the Zu Xie Cup (the football authority's cup) attracting less still. Tickets for these matches sell for around 20 yuan. Alas it was a Zu Xie cup that the Shanghai Daily saw with a small but enthusiastic and noisy crowd of 4,000 Lanmos - as the local blue topped Shenhua fans are known banging drums and blowing trumpets. Certainly the stadium is impressive even if the football was markedly less so. A taxi to the stadium from People's Square is around 21 yuan, there's a line No. 3 stop called Hongkou Football Stadium, four yuan from People's Square. The next match is against Wuhan on November 5, kick-off 2:30pm.
During the day the Tsing Tao Pub has a sort of cafe feel, different colored comfortable chairs, big windows to watch the world go by, plastic plants and pop music but around eight it suddenly does a Cinderella and with the lights lowered, music switched and interspersed with live musicians, it acquires a more sophisticated bar atmosphere.
Attentive and friendly staff replace 20 yuan bottles of Tsingtao "Excellent" (the standard one) or for those wishing to push the boat out there's Tsingtao "Gold" at 22 yuan. Five other types of Tsingtao are available. There is also an extensive non Tsingtao related drinks menu with snacks and food. Between 10am and 6pm those who eat pay six yuan per bottle of Tsingtao.
"To be a Lanmos you must go to every home game at least," said Tian Haijun, the manager for the past six years of the Tsing Tao Beer Pub. "Unfortunately I'm too busy these days, I must watch most of the games on the TV in the pub," he said not sounding at all sad about the situation.
Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays see Lee Zha, and his guitar performing rock and pop favorites; Thursdays Du Canchen with singing and guitar; Saturdays there's a band and last but not least Wednesdays and Sundays there's Kara Lee a beautiful and talented young pianist who plays with some assuredness.
Near Hongkou Football Stadium is Lu Xun Park, a large and attractive park that's worth a stroll and Duolun Road, home to 1920s writers Lu Xun, Ye Shengtao and Guo Moruo, has quaint book shops and cafes galore. Sichuan Road N. is shop-tastic.
douglaswilliams@shanghaidaily.com