Yuqi town in northwest Wuxi, Jiangsu province, celebrated the traditional Shangsi Festival on the third day of the third lunar month, which this year fell on a rainy March 30. The town did not let the spring drizzle dampen its spirits, with locals holding colorful folk activities.

Time-honored distillery

Departing a colorful parade, guests to Yuqi town visited the local Yuqi Distillery, known for producing yellow wine (huangjiu) by using aged wine as an ingredient. It is like wine on top of wine, so it is also named double-set wine. The distillery has also started producing baijiu, a stronger white spirit, in recent years.

Despite changing names over the centuries, the distillery carries on Yuqi’s liquor-making tradition that dates back to late Song Dynasty (960-1279), when a government-run workshop was first set up there. In 1960, the distillery was officially named Yuqi Distillery.

Yuqi Distillery transformed to be a limited company in 2003 and was awarded the title of China Time Honored Brand by the country’s Ministry of Commerce in 2011. To promote its unique liquor making heritage, the distillery opened experience centers at several old town scenic sites around Wuxi in 2014.

The headquarters of the distillery in Yuqi town comprises an impressive collection of historical liquor containers, a demonstration site for liquor making techniques, and a place for experiencing the company’s corporate culture and tasting liquor, as well as distillery plants mixing modern technology and traditional fermentation methods.

The distillery plant of Yuqi Distillery mixes modern technology and traditional fermentation methods. [Photo by Liu Sitong/China Daily]

International guests pose in front of a small mountain of empty wine urns at the distillery. [Photo by Liu Sitong/China Daily]

International guests taste baijiu at the distillery. A host uses a dropper to dispense the liquor, which the distillery has developed in recent years. [Photo by Liu Sitong/China Daily]