Alcoholic Culture in China

When you travel to China for your China holidays, you might be surprised to see how Chinese drink. Hence it is helpful and interesting to know Chinese Alcoholic culture.
Wine culture is an important part of the Chinese food and drink. As to the inventor of wine, there are several versions, but the most popular one is that a person called Du Kang made it. From the scientific point of view, the earliest wine was a naturally fermented fruit wine.
Chinese wine culture, with its unique national characteristics, was constantly enriched and developed. Many famous Chinese wines of the present day developed from ancient times, mainly from the Ming and the Qing dynasties. In ancient China, there was a kind of alcoholic beverage called li that was made from malted cereals. 3200 years ago, the Chinese invented distiller's yeast, which they regarded as essential for liquor brewing.
Generally speaking, the development of brewing technology in China falls into two stages. The first stage that is of natural fermentation lasted thousands of years. The second stage began only with the Qing Dynasty (1616-1911 ) when the traditional fermentation underwent great changes due to the use of the Western technology, including micro biology and biochemistry.
Wine has been considered as a special culture in China. Poor people and rich people both drink wine. To describe the excessive extravagance of the nobles, it was said :"wine fills a pool, meat forms a forest", and "wine and meat decay inside the vermilion door." Sending off an army on expedition or celebrating triumph, wedding, anniversary or alliance treaties signing ceremonies, wine is always present. On occasions of tomb sweeping, wine is sprinkled at the front and on the top of tombs in honor of the deceased. In ancient times, when people practiced divination, prayed for rainfall, or worshipped deities and ghosts, wine was often used to show reverence. Even when a prisoner was taken off to be executed, he was offered a bowl of wine. On al solemn occasions wine is not replaceable by tea. In the eyes of the Chinese people wine has a special place. At a formal dinner, it is not polite to drink wine or liquor by oneself. Ancient Chinese men of letters might write poems or monographs after tasting liquor.