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."
汾酒致力提升國際影響力
2019年下半年，中國領先的白酒生產商汾酒集團舉辦了一系列活動，以推廣中國白酒文化和增強中國白酒的國際影響力。
10月，2019“行走的汾酒”文化大巡展在汾酒的發源地山西汾陽杏花村舉行。這一酒文化推廣之旅于10月到達天津，11月到達北京，12月到達海南省。
“行走的汾酒”文化大巡展始于2018年，2018“行走的汾酒”先后達到濟南、鄭州、杭州、呼和浩特、上海、西安等六個城市，將傳承千年的汾酒釀造技藝和博大精深的汾酒歷史文化，展現在消費者面前。
汾酒集團董事長李秋喜表示，汾酒是中國白酒的主要代表之一，有責任弘揚中國白酒的獨特文化并獲得國際認可。今年的文化大巡展繼續把重點放在中國酒文化上，但在活動上做了一些創新。
活動的組織者之一說：“我們致力于利用虛擬現實等先進技術來增加與參與者的互動，并為他們帶來新的體驗。”
在天津之行期間，組織者建立了一個以杏花為主題的公園，人們可以在其中了解汾酒的歷史并購買創意產品。觀眾可以一邊欣賞中國傳統音樂表演，一邊觀看汾酒的蒸餾過程。
汾酒集團還參加了杏化村舉辦的2019比利時布魯塞爾國際烈性酒大獎賽。為期5天的比賽吸引了來自全球59個國家和地區的1,748款烈酒，共有104名評委進行了盲品和鑒定。結果，有48款產品獲得了比賽的最高榮譽大金獎。汾酒集團生產的純正、醇厚的玫瑰汾酒獲得了山西唯一的頂級獎項。
除了進行品評，國際專家還參觀了汾酒博物館和杏花村汾酒作坊，以了解有關中國白酒的歷史及其生產工藝等更多信息。
來自英國的侍酒師保羅•馬修在現場品嘗了汾酒后說：“汾酒與歐洲烈酒不同，它柔和而略帶甜味，我特別喜歡這種持久的回味。”
布魯塞爾國際酒類大賽主席卜度安•哈弗了解了整個過程后說，中國的白酒釀造技術博大精深，如果我沒有來中國親自體驗，就不會理解這些技術。”他說。
大賽之后，9月19日至22日，舉辦了第三屆山西（汾陽•杏花村）世界酒文化博覽會在杏花村舉辦。博覽會以“舉杯汾陽•品味世界”為主題，組織了十場大型活動，包括美酒品鑒會、中國白酒杏花村論壇、中國百強酒商齊聚汾陽等活動。
汾酒集團總經理譚忠豹說，在國家一帶一路經濟帶建設的大背景下，今年的論壇重點討論了如何輸出中國白酒文化以及如何促進中國白酒的國際化。
譚忠豹強調，“文化營銷，核心在于文化，關鍵在于創新，重點在于合作共贏，只要我們團結一致，同舟共濟，共謀發展，中國白酒一定會在國際市場大放異彩。”
From：China Daily
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