During the second half of 2019, leading Chinese liquor baijiu maker Shanxi-headquartered Fenjiu Group participated in an array of activities to promote Chinese liquor culture and enhance Chinese liquor's international influence.

In October, the "2019 Walking Fenjiu Liquor" festival was launched in Xinghua (which means apricot blossom) village－which is known as the birthplace of Fenjiu liquor－in Fenyang, Shanxi province. The liquor culture promotion tour moved to Tianjin in October, Beijing in November and Hainan province in December.

In 2018, the festival traveled to six cities around the country, gaining attention and making the event a rich source of intellectual property in the Chinese liquor industry, according to Fenjiu Group.

As one of the major representatives of Chinese liquor, Fenjiu liquor has a responsibility to promote Chinese liquor's unique culture and obtain international recognition, said Li Qiuxi, chairman of Fenjiu Group.

This year's festival continued its focus on Chinese liquor culture but made some innovations in activities.

"We are committed to utilizing advanced technologies such as virtual reality to improve the interactivity with participants and bring them new experiences," said one of the event's organizers.

During the Tianjin leg, the organizers set up an apricot blossom-themed park where people could gain an understanding of Fenjiu liquor's history and purchase creative products. Attendees could watch the distilling process of Fenjiu liquor while enjoying a traditional Chinese music performance.

Fenjiu Group also participated in the 2019 Spirits Selection by Concours Mondial de Bruxelles in Xinghua village.

The five-day competition gathered 1,748 spirits from 59 countries and regions around the world. A total of 104 judges engaged in blind tasting and appraisal. As a result, 48 products won the contest's highest honor, the Grand Gold Medal. Fenjiu Group's pure and mellow rose Fenjiu liquor was the only top award winner in Shanxi.

Besides evaluation, the international experts visited the Fenjiu Museum and the Fenjiu Taotan Distillery to learn more about Chinese liquor's history and its manufacturing process.

After tasting the Fenjiu liquor brewed on site, Paul Mathew, a bartender from the United Kingdom, said: "The Fenjiu liquor, different from the spirits in Europe, is soft and a little sweet. I especially love the long-lasting aftertaste."

A staff member at the distillery introduced the brewing process of Fenjiu liquor to visitors. The process includes a special fermentation process in underground ceramic tanks. Local sorghum is used as a major ingredient for fermentation and fresh rice chaff as the supplementary materials.

Having learned about the whole process, Baudouin Havaux, president of the 2019 Spirits Selection by CMB, said the Chinese liquor-making techniques were complex and profound.

"I could not have understood the techniques if I hadn't come to China and experienced it myself," he said.

Following the international competition, Xinghua village hosted the third Shanxi World Wine Culture Expo between Sep 19-22.

With the theme of "Cheer for Fenyang, Taste the World", the expo organized 10 major events including a wine tasting party, the Xinghuacun forum and an investment promotion.

Under the Belt and Road Initiative, this year's forum focused on the issues of how to export Chinese liquor culture and how to advance Chinese liquor's internationalization, said Tan Zhongbao, general manager of Fenjiu Group.

"The key to cultural marketing lies in innovation and cooperation. We need to collaborate to make Chinese liquor shine on the world stage."

zhanglinwan@chinadaily.com.cn