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How to pronounce “Tsingtao”

青岛qīng dǎo

Literally: green island.

❌ What English speakers usually say

“sing-TAO” or “zing-tao”

✅ What to say instead

ching-DOW — the beer keeps the old Wade-Giles spelling, but the city behind it is Qingdao

The shape of the word

Tap any syllable to hear it. The curve above each one is the tone you are aiming for.

Syllable by syllable

SyllableTonePractise it
qīngFirst tone — high and flatqing — open drill →
dǎoThird tone — low dipdao — open drill →
Worth knowing

Tsingtao and Qingdao are the same word in two romanisation systems. The bottle is 1903 spelling, the map is modern pinyin.

Questions people ask

How do you pronounce Tsingtao?

Tsingtao is 青岛, qīng dǎo — ching-DOW — the beer keeps the old Wade-Giles spelling, but the city behind it is Qingdao. Literally it means green island.

What is the most common mistake with Tsingtao?

“sing-TAO” or “zing-tao”

Is there anything else worth knowing about Tsingtao?

Tsingtao and Qingdao are the same word in two romanisation systems. The bottle is 1903 spelling, the map is modern pinyin.

More words people mispronounce

Can you actually say it?

Reading a respelling is not the same as producing the tones. The free 2-minute check listens to you and shows which syllables land wrong.

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