🍷 Wine & Spirits

Baijiu (literally "white liquor") is a clear grain spirit, typically distilled from sorghum, usually 40–60% ABV, and by total volume consumed it outsells vodka, whiskey, and every other spirit category on Earth combined — almost entirely within China's own borders. It comes in several distinct aroma profiles that taste closer to different spirit categories than variations on a theme: sauce aroma (jiangxiang, led by Moutai) is savory, fermented, almost soy-sauce-adjacent on the nose; strong aroma (nongxiang, the most common style, led by Wuliangye and Luzhou Laojiao) is fruitier and more approachable; light aroma (qingxiang, led by Fenjiu) is cleaner and closer to what a Western drinker might expect from a clear spirit.

Moutai (Kweichow Moutai), from Guizhou province, is the most famous and most expensive brand — a bottle of the flagship product routinely sells for several hundred dollars, and it's the traditional gift and toast spirit at state banquets and major business deals. Baijiu drinking follows real social protocol: the most senior or most honored person is toasted first, glasses are typically emptied in one go ("gan bei" — literally "dry the glass"), and declining a toast outright can cause real social friction in a business context, though foreigners are usually given some latitude.

China invented tea, and it remains the genuine everyday beverage in a way baijiu, reserved for toasts and celebrations, never is. Green tea (longjing/Dragon Well from Hangzhou is the benchmark) dominates the north and east; oolong (particularly Tieguanyin from Fujian and the rock teas of Wuyi Mountain) has an devoted following further south; pu-erh, fermented and aged like wine, comes from Yunnan and can command genuinely serious prices for old, well-stored vintages; and black tea (China calls it "red tea," hongcha) includes Keemun and Lapsang Souchong. A proper gongfu tea ceremony — small pot, small cups, multiple short infusions — is worth experiencing at a dedicated teahouse rather than just ordering tea with a meal.

China's most serious wine region sits on the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains in Ningxia, a semi-arid province better known for the Gobi Desert than for viticulture. High altitude, intense sun, huge diurnal temperature swings, and deliberate government investment since the 2000s have turned the region into a genuine contender — Ningxia producers have won blind tastings against Bordeaux and Napa in international competitions, a result that surprised even some of the judges. Cabernet Sauvignon dominates plantings, with Marselan (a Cabernet Sauvignon–Grenache cross) emerging as something closer to a signature grape for the region. Names worth knowing: Silver Heights, Helan Qingxue, and Kanaan Winery — none widely exported yet, which makes tasting them in-country part of the appeal.