It's a timeless German scene: Lederhosen-clad waiters carry armfuls of frothing beer to groaning bench-loads of rosy faced, stein-quaffing revellers.

On stage, in a hall decked out in the traditional blue and white of Bavaria, an oompah band adds to the Oktoberfest atmosphere and the crowd begin dancing on the tables and banging their glasses in time to the music.

But the scene is thousands of miles from Munich, and outside is not the mild beginnings of a German autumn; it's a stifling Chinese summer night.

This is Kunshan, a town an hour-and-a-half ride outside Shanghai, home to one of the most popular of a growing number of Chinese beer festivals.

"Last year was the first time the festival was held. It lasted nine days and attracted more than 120,000 people. This year they've extended it to 14 days and are hoping for a quarter of a million," said Stefan Meichsner of the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Shanghai, the group behind the German tent at the festival, which started on Tuesday night and runs until August 29.

"This kind of festival is a traditional part of German culture so it seemed natural that we have a tent here. It's also a good opportunity for both Chinese and foreign companies to have some fun and treat their customers to a real German night out."

Inside the German tent, one of six huge sponsored marquees at the festival, there was a mixed crowd of several hundred expats, Chinese from Shanghai and elsewhere, and local Kunshaners all sipping steins and getting stuck into the sauerkraut, sausage, schnitzel and potato buffet.

Shane Wilson, who works for Dell computers in the United States, is on one of several business trips he makes to Kunshan every year.

"Usually I head into Shanghai at the weekend, but obviously this time there's plenty to do right here.

"It's really weird to see so many Chinese people in such a German setting, but it's excellent. I've never seen anything like it," he said. "They do need to lay on more toilets though."

For 18-year-old student Er Xingda, it was his second taste of the out-of-season Oktoberfest.

"I came last year with some of my friends and thought it was really good, so we came back this year and brought more people," he said, sitting at a table supposedly reserved for guests of the Kunshan government.

"The German tent is the most exciting, with the music and dancing. It's really good fun and really different to what we're used to."

"You don't see a lot of festivals like this with so many foreign and Chinese visitors, the atmosphere is great," a businessman said.

"We won't talk business tonight, but it is a good opportunity to improve relations with my clients."

(China Daily August 17, 2006)