Admin: [CFWK] Create dish page (Infobox + Commons)

2026-09-25T04:17:32Z

[CFWK] Create dish page (Infobox + Commons)

New page

{{#seo:
|title=Chinese Alcohol (中国酒 Jiu): Baijiu, Huangjiu, Rice Wine, Beer and Festival Drinks - Chinese Food Wiki
|keywords=Chinese Alcohol,Chinese alcoholic beverages,中国酒,酒,jiu,Chinese liquor,Chinese wine,baijiu,白酒,huangjiu,黄酒,mijiu,米酒,Chinese beer,啤酒,qu,酒曲,Moutai,Fenjiu,Tsingtao
|description=Chinese Alcohol (中国酒, jiu) is an encyclopedia overview of Chinese alcoholic drinks: qu-fermented grain wines, baijiu aroma types, Shaoxing huangjiu, rice wines, fruit and flower wines, beer, festival drinks and table customs.
}}

{{Infobox chinese food
| image = Chinese Alcohol.jpg
| caption = Traditional earthenware jars for storing wine
| alternate_name = 中国酒; 中國酒; jiu (酒); Chinese liquor; Chinese wine; Chinese alcoholic beverages
| pinyin = Zhōngguó jiǔ
| type = Encyclopedia hub: distilled spirits, brewed grain wines, fruit and flower wines, beer
| course = Beverage; cooking ingredient; ritual offering
| country = China
| region = Nationwide, with strong regional traditions (Guizhou, Sichuan, Shanxi, Beijing, Zhejiang, Shandong, Taiwan and others)
| other = Hub page — see linked articles for each drink
}}

'''Chinese Alcohol''' (Simplified Chinese: 中国酒; Traditional Chinese: 中國酒; Pinyin: ''Zhōngguó jiǔ'') is this wiki's overview of alcoholic drinks made and consumed in China. The Chinese word '''jiu''' (酒) covers every drink that contains alcohol, so English translations such as "wine" or "liquor" are loose: a brewed grain drink such as [[Huangjiu]] is usually called "wine", while a distilled grain spirit such as [[Baijiu]] is called "liquor". Beer is ''pijiu'' (啤酒) and grape wine is ''putaojiu'' (葡萄酒).<ref name="wpchina">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_in_China English Wikipedia: Alcohol in China]</ref> This page is an encyclopedia map of the main families of drinks and the customs around them; it does not recommend drinking, list prices or promote any seller.

== Brief history ==

What makes Chinese grain alcohol distinctive is the fermentation starter '''qu''' (曲, also ''jiuqu'' 酒曲): a cake or loose mass of grain on which molds, yeasts and bacteria have been cultivated. The molds break grain starch down into sugars while the yeasts turn those sugars into alcohol, so saccharification and fermentation happen together in one vessel. Large brick-like ''daqu'' (大曲) made mainly from wheat, barley or peas is typical of northern-style and premium baijiu, while small rice-based ''xiaoqu'' (小曲) is common in southern rice wines and some spirits.<ref name="wpqu">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiuqu English Wikipedia: Jiuqu]</ref>

The earliest chemical evidence for a fermented drink in China comes from pottery at the Neolithic site of '''Jiahu''' in Henan. Residue analysis published in 2004 identified a mixed fermented beverage of rice, honey and fruit (hawthorn and/or grape), dated to roughly 7000–6600 BC. It is among the oldest known alcoholic beverages in the world, but it was not the same thing as any modern Chinese drink, and exactly how it was fermented is still discussed by researchers.<ref name="pnas">[https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0407921102 McGovern, P. E. et al. (2004). "Fermented beverages of pre- and proto-historic China". PNAS 101(51)]</ref><ref name="jiahu">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiahu English Wikipedia: Jiahu]</ref>

By the Shang and Zhou periods, bronze vessels for holding and warming grain wine were central to ritual and court life, and millet and rice wines resembling today's [[Huangjiu]] were the main drinks for many centuries. Traditional texts credit the invention of wine to legendary figures such as '''Yi Di''' (仪狄), said to have offered wine to Yu the Great, or '''Du Kang''' (杜康), later honored as a patron of brewers. These stories are '''folklore''' and cannot be tied to a real inventor.<ref name="wpchina" /><ref name="dukang">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Du_Kang English Wikipedia: Du Kang]</ref> Distilled spirits developed later; historians still debate the date, but distilled liquor was clearly widespread by the Yuan and Ming dynasties and eventually became the modern [[Baijiu]].<ref name="wpchina" />

== Baijiu (distilled spirits) ==

[[Baijiu]] (白酒, "white liquor") is a clear grain spirit, usually made from sorghum alone or a mix of grains, fermented in solid state with qu and then distilled. Most bottlings are about 38–60% alcohol. Chinese producers and standards group baijiu by '''aroma type''' (香型):<ref name="wpbaijiu">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baijiu English Wikipedia: Baijiu]</ref>

* '''Strong aroma''' (浓香, ''nongxiang'') — rich, fruity and estery, made in long-used mud fermentation pits; the dominant style in Sichuan and Jiangsu. Examples: [[Luzhou Laojiao]], [[Wuliangye]]; also Jiannanchun and Yanghe.
* '''Sauce aroma''' (酱香, ''jiangxiang'') — deep, savory and roasted, from a long seasonal cycle of repeated fermentation and distillation; centred on Guizhou. Example: [[Moutai]]; also Langjiu from the same river valley.
* '''Light aroma''' (清香, ''qingxiang'') — clean, crisp and dry, typically fermented in buried clay jars or stone pits. Examples: [[Fenjiu]] from Shanxi, Beijing [[Erguotou]] and Taiwan's [[Kinmen Kaoliang]].
* '''Rice aroma''' (米香, ''mixiang'') — lighter spirits distilled from rice with small qu, typical of Guangxi and other southern rice regions.
* '''Other types''' — Chinese classifications recognise further categories, for example ''fengxiang'' (凤香, "phoenix aroma") represented by Xifeng liquor from Shaanxi, ''jianxiang'' (兼香, "mixed aroma") that combines strong and sauce characters, and several smaller regional types.

Baijiu is the usual liquor for formal banquets and toasts; for aroma chemistry and serving customs see [[Baijiu]].

== Huangjiu (yellow wine) ==

[[Huangjiu]] (黄酒, "yellow wine") is a brewed, undistilled grain wine made from glutinous rice, rice or millet with qu, then pressed and usually aged. Alcohol is typically about 8–20%. The most famous style is '''Shaoxing wine''' from Zhejiang, whose four classic types are grouped by sweetness:<ref name="sx">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaoxing_wine English Wikipedia: Shaoxing wine]</ref>

* '''Yuanhong''' (元红) — dry
* '''Jiafan''' (加饭) — semi-dry, brewed with extra rice; aged jiafan is widely sold as '''Huadiao''' (花雕, "carved flowers"), a name taken from decorated storage jars
* '''Shanniang''' (善酿) — semi-sweet, brewed partly with older wine in place of water
* '''Xiangxue''' (香雪) — sweet, fortified with distilled spirit made from wine lees

The ''nü'er hong'' (女儿红) custom — burying wine when a daughter is born and opening it at her wedding — is a well-known Shaoxing tradition. See [[Huangjiu]] for details.

== Rice wines ==

Chinese rice wines overlap with huangjiu but also include lighter, sweeter and local drinks:

* [[Mijiu]] (米酒, "rice wine") — a broad term for rice-based wines. In much of mainland China it means a light, sweetish home or local rice wine; in Taiwan it usually refers to a clear distilled rice spirit of about 20% that is used heavily in cooking.
* [[Jiuniang]] (酒酿, also ''laozao'' 醪糟) — sweet fermented glutinous rice with the grains left in; very low in alcohol and eaten as a dessert, for example with [[Tangyuan]].

== Fruit and flavored wines ==

Fruit, flower and herb wines are usually made by steeping ingredients in a base spirit or rice wine, or by fermenting fruit directly:

* [[Chinese Plum Wine]] (梅酒 / 青梅酒, ''meijiu'') — green ume plums steeped in spirit or rice wine; related to Japanese umeshu. Bayberry (杨梅酒) wine is a Jiangnan relative.
* [[Osmanthus Wine]] (桂花酒, ''guihua jiu'') — a sweet, floral wine scented with osmanthus flowers, linked with the Mid-Autumn Festival.
* Lychee wine (荔枝酒) — a southern fruit wine from Guangdong, Guangxi and Fujian lychee-growing areas.
* Grape wine (葡萄酒) — China has a modern grape-wine industry; the oldest large winery is Changyu, founded in 1892 in Yantai, [[Shandong Food|Shandong]]. Ningxia, Xinjiang and Hebei are other important wine regions.<ref name="changyu">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changyu English Wikipedia: Changyu]</ref>

== Beer ==

Beer (啤酒, ''pijiu'') arrived with foreign-run breweries around 1900 and is now the most widely consumed alcoholic drink in China by volume. Most Chinese beer is light pale lager, drunk cold with everyday meals, hot pot and street barbecue.<ref name="beer">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_in_China English Wikipedia: Beer in China]</ref>

* [[Tsingtao Beer]] (青岛啤酒) — founded in 1903 in Qingdao, [[Shandong Food|Shandong]]; China's best-known beer abroad.
* Snow (雪花) — a China Resources brand that grew from a Shenyang brewery; one of the highest-volume beer brands in the world.
* Harbin (哈尔滨啤酒) — traces its history to a brewery founded in Harbin in 1900, see [[Heilongjiang Food]].
* Yanjing (燕京啤酒) — the major Beijing brewery.

Beer is also a cooking ingredient in dishes such as [[Beer Duck]] and [[Beer Fish]].

== Festival and ritual drinks ==

Special drinks mark several festivals in the Chinese calendar. Many of these customs are now practised symbolically or have faded:

* '''Lunar New Year''' — [[Tusu Wine]] (屠苏酒), a spiced herbal wine traditionally drunk on New Year's morning, youngest family member first.
* '''Dragon Boat Festival''' — [[Realgar Wine]] (雄黄酒), wine mixed with the mineral realgar and tied to the ''Legend of the White Snake''. Realgar is an arsenic sulfide, so health authorities today discourage drinking it; see the article for context. The festival food is [[Zongzi]].
* '''Double Ninth Festival''' — chrysanthemum wine (菊花酒), drunk while climbing hills and viewing chrysanthemums, a custom traditionally traced back to the Han dynasty.<ref name="chongyang">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Ninth_Festival English Wikipedia: Double Ninth Festival]</ref>
* '''Mid-Autumn Festival''' — [[Osmanthus Wine]] (桂花酒), drunk as a family "reunion wine" alongside [[Mooncake|mooncakes]].<ref name="osm">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmanthus_fragrans English Wikipedia: Osmanthus fragrans]</ref>

Wine is also poured as an offering at ancestral rites and grave visits, a use recorded in the ritual classics.<ref name="wpchina" />

== Ethnic and regional drinks ==

* '''Highland barley wine''' (青稞酒, ''qingke jiu''; Tibetan ''chang'') — a lightly alcoholic brewed drink made from Tibetan highland barley, served at festivals and to guests in Tibet, Qinghai and western Sichuan; a distilled barley spirit is also made in Qinghai. See [[Tibetan Food#Highland Barley Wine|Tibetan Food]] and [[Qinghai Food]].
* '''Mongolian milk liquor''' — fermented mare's milk (''airag'', koumiss, 马奶酒) and a clear spirit distilled from fermented milk (''arkhi'', 奶酒) are traditional among Mongolian herders; see [[Inner Mongolia Food]].<ref name="kumis">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumis English Wikipedia: Kumis]</ref>
* Many other ethnic groups in southwest China brew their own rice or corn wines, often drunk through bamboo straws from shared jars at festivals.

== Drinking culture ==

* '''Toasting''' — at Chinese banquets drinks are usually taken together in rounds of toasts rather than sipped alone. The host toasts first, guests return toasts, and people often touch glasses with the rim held slightly lower than that of a senior person as a sign of respect.
* '''Ganbei''' (干杯, "dry the cup") — the call to empty one's glass in one go, most often with small cups of [[Baijiu]]. It is common to decline politely, or to toast with tea or a soft drink instead.
* '''Warming huangjiu''' — [[Huangjiu]] is traditionally warmed before serving, sometimes with a slice of ginger or a dried plum in the pot, while beer is served cold.
* '''Alcohol in cooking''' — Chinese kitchens use wine to remove fishy or gamey smells and add aroma. Shaoxing wine is essential to red-braised dishes such as [[Hong Shao Rou]] and [[DongPo Stewed Pork]] and to the "drunken" dishes [[Drunk Chicken]], [[Drunk Shrimp]] and [[Drunk Crab]]; Taiwanese rice wine flavours [[Three Cup Chicken]]; beer is used in [[Beer Duck]] and [[Beer Fish]].

Chinese law sets 18 as the minimum age for buying alcohol, and drink-driving is strictly punished.

== See also ==

* [[Chinese Drink]]
* [[Baijiu]]
* [[Huangjiu]]
* [[Mijiu]]
* [[Jiuniang]]
* [[Tea]]
* [[Chinese Food Map]]
* [[List of dishes (A-Z)]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

Chinese Alcohol - Revision history

Admin: [CFWK] Create dish page (Infobox + Commons)