Belgium's rich beer culture is intoxicating, to say the least

I know I might invite criticism if I promote alcohol, but I also believe it would be a dereliction of duty on my part to bid farewell to Belgium after nearly seven years without writing about its beer culture.

I remember well when the Belgian embassy official who interviewed me in Beijing seven years ago for issuing a journalist visa asked me how long I would be stationed in Brussels, I told him in a lighter vein, "Until I finish all the Belgian beers".

His response was prompt: "That's impossible."