The city of Lyuliang is making headway for its white liquor producers to enter the Italian market and its neighboring regions by holding a promotional event late last month.

　　Ten white liquor, or baijiu, producers from the western Shanxi city attended the promotional fair on June 28 in the country's capital city of Rome.

　　Among the participating enterprises, Xinghuacun Fenjiu Group based in the township of Xinghuacun is the most renowned company for the production and export of baijiu products. It was one of the pioneering Chinese baijiu producers to go global on a large scale about 100 years ago and is now among the top three white liquor exporters in the country.

　　The event also aims to present the millennialong history and culture associated with alcoholic beverage production in Lyuliang.

　　Fu Peng, an executive of Xinghuacun Fenjiu, told guests at the event that the township of Xinghuacun has a history of more than 6,000 years of alcoholic beverage production and there is material evidence for this long history.

　　He said Chinese archaeologists started an excavation of ancient ruins at a site in his company's premises in the 1980s.

　　One of the remarkable findings was a waving spindle-shaped bottle with a distinctive feature of Yangshao Culture, an ancient civilization in the middle reaches of the Yellow River between 5,000 and 7,000 years ago. Researchers identified the bottle as a utensil for brewing alcoholic beverages, and surmised that Xinghuacun township was one of the sources for the industry in China.

　　At the event, guests also tasted white liquor products from Lyuliang city. Xinghuacun Fenjiu presented a special edition tailored to the taste of Westerners but still featuring unique Chinese cultural elements. It was contained in blue-and-white porcelain bottles decorated with Chinese calligraphy and traditional painting patterns.

　　The Chinese delegation was headed by Zhang Guangyong, mayor of Lyuliang.

　　At the event, he said he expects more Italians to visit Lyuliang, finding business opportunities while enjoying the local liquor and scenic attractions.

　　He also said he hopes there will be more exchanges between alcoholic beverage producers from Italy and Lyuliang.

　　At the event, Zhang witnessed the signing of cooperative agreements between Italy's wine suppliers and dealers in Lyuliang, paving the way for more Italian wines to access the market in Lyuliang and its neighboring regions.

Wu Jia contributed to this story.
By Yuan Shenggao