Guests enjoy the wheat beer at DK1308, which is arguably the best in the capital, with a strong aroma on the nose and a pleasant fruity finish.

Beijing

The annual excuse to chug mug after mug of beer is back. Ye Jun does a quick spin around town to check out the best places for brew and grub because...

Oktoberfest was first held in 1810 to celebrate the happy nuptials of the Bavarian Prince Ludwig. All the citizens of Munich were invited to a party with huge quantities of beer and a lot of German sausages, pork knuckles and other victuals. Two hundred years later, it has become a worldwide festival, in which international beer lovers all raise a glass (or many more) to the memory of the first festival.

Those in Beijing can enjoy good beer and big helpings of traditional German food in various pubs and restaurants around the city, all appropriately festive.

DK1308 German Restaurant and Beerhouse is a brewery and restaurant where the beer does not get any fresher. A Bavarian master brewer concocts draft beer that is brewed according to a recipe handed down from the German imperial family 700 years ago. Apart from the pedigree of the beer, both the uniforms of the wait staff and the interior dcor are also authentically German.

The Oktoberfest action kicks off at DK1308 on Saturday with a barrel tapping ceremony and a buffet with unlimited flow of homemade draft beer, fruit juice, soft drinks and red wine from 6 pm to midnight.

A band flown in from Germany will aid the merry-making.

The nightly buffet will be open until 10 pm each evening until Sept 26. German brewer Andreas Roehrl will also present a wheat-based dark beer, the only one of its kind available in Beijing.

The paler wheat beer at DK1308 is already arguably the best in the capital, with a strong aroma on the nose and a smooth fruity finish. The lager is full-bodied and pure in the mouth, while the dark rye beer has a rich caramel flavor. The 300 ml mugs cost 48 yuan ($7), 500 ml mugs cost 58 yuan and the one-liter jugs cost 108 yuan.

Paulaner Brauhaus has been celebrating Oktoberfest since 1993 in the best of Bavarian tradition with beer from the home country, hearty food, showgirls and live music. Paulaner's beer is brewed on site according to the Bavarian purity law, which stipulates that it contains nothing more than water, yeast, hops and barley malt.

Paulaner's Oktoberfest runs from Oct 8 to Oct 24, and it kicks off with the traditional barrel tapping on opening day in its Oktoberfest tent. The managing director of Kempinski Hotel Beijing, Stephan Interthal, and the brew master at Paulaner Brauhaus, Stefan Frank, will swing the wooden mallet to drive the tap into the first barrel with the famous Bavarian shout "o'zapft is", meaning "it is tapped".

At the Crown Plaza Park View Wuzhou Beijing, Bavarian food and all the Carlsberg beer you can drink from Monday to Sept 19 will be available in a 600-sq-m tent at the Garden Club House.

Festivities will include fun and games with a live band in attendance. Munchner Musikanten is one of the finest Bavarian bands around and all its members were born and raised in the region.

They have been playing for 20 years and are veterans of the Munich Oktoberfest. They now travel the world spreading the good cheer each year.

Join the happy revelers for 336 yuan per person and get food, free flowing beer, soft drinks and a lucky draw from 6 pm to 11pm.