Decorated history helps baijiu maker grow and 
flourish

Wearing traditional clothes, executives of Xinghuacun Fenjiu Group announce the market launch of a new bajiu product made at its old distillery.CAO QINGSHENG/FOR CHINA DAILY

While many companies are relaxing the pace of business activities to allow employees to spend the Spring Festival holiday with their families, a renowned baijiu－or white liquor－producer in Shanxi is witnessing its most prosperous period in production.

At a production plant in Xinghuacun Fenjiu Group, based in Fenyang city, workers were busy bottling, sealing, labeling and packaging the company's baijiu products. A huge display on the wall of the plant showed the output of the production line was 12,000 bottles per hour.

"The production boom is a result of skyrocketing demand for high-quality baijiu during the Spring Festival period," said Jin Gang, an executive in charge of production at Xinghuacun Fenjiu.

"Spring Festival is always accompanied with ganbei－proposals for toasts. Premium baijiu brands like Fenjiu are sought-after because they are better for consumers' health," Jin said.

The executive said Fenjiu represents China's millennia-long history in baijiu production and baijiu-related culture.

Archaeologists found an ancient acholic beverage production site in Xinghuacun in Fenyang, the location of the company. Unearthed production utensils revealed that the site has a history of about 6,000 years of production.

But Xinghuacun became a household name mainly because of a poem called Qingming, written by Tang Dynasty (618-907) poet Du Mu. In the poem, Du described his mood during his trip on Qingming, or Tomb Sweeping Day, in April. In Chinese, Xinghuacun literally means apricot flower village.

"A drizzling rain falls like tears on the Qingming day.

The traveler's heart is going to break on the way.

Where can a wine shop can be found to drown his dismay?

A cowherd points to the apricot flower village far away."

In Xinghuacun, the production of liquor has continued for thousands of years. Today, Xinghuacun-branded baijiu is a frequent winner of national and international awards, including a gold medal during the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, the United States, according to Li Qiuxi, chairman of the baijiu group's board of directors.

"While continuing to innovate in technology, Xinghuacun Fenjiu still keeps its centuries-old techniques in some of its old distilleries," Li said. "Keeping those techniques gives customers an authentic taste of the brand's history."

The company also operates the Fenjiu Baijiu Museum, where tourists can experience the old liquor-making process while tasting the newly distilled white liquor.

Wang Pei contributed to this story.

By YUAN SHENGGAO