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There's a home state in eastern China where guests don't just visit, they make wine, ancient wine.
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The kind that's been brewed the same way for thousands of years.
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They learn the steps, they taste the traditions, and at the end, they take home a small clay jar filled with something they created themselves.
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Some write wishes on those jars, some write blessings for their children, some seal secrets inside.
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Today's episode takes us to Xiaxiing, a city in Zhejiang province, just over two hours from Shanghai.
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And if you've never heard of it, you should know about it.
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Everyone has a story to tell.
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We connect and relate to one another when we share our stories.
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My name is Melia Ole, and I am your host of Voices of Inspiration.
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Join me as I share stories of friends, family, and strangers through my everyday life and travels.
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We will laugh, possibly cry, or walk away connected more than ever to those around you and ready to be the change our world needs.
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Everyone has a story to tell.
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What's yours?
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I'm Amelia and this is Voices of Inspiration.
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Xiaoxing is one of those places most Westerners have never heard of, but it's been making yellow rice wine, Huangzhou, for thousands of years.
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The thing is, everything about this place matters.
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The water system, the climate, even the air.
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Xiaoxing sits on this unique water system fed by Jian Hu Lake, and the water here has specific mineral properties.
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The air carries particular bacteria, the climate creates these ideal fermentation conditions.
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All of these elements combine to produce wine that tastes different from anywhere else.
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Today's guest is Zhu Qing Li.
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He runs a place entirely dedicated to Xiaxiing wine culture.
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He wanted to create a space where guests, especially international visitors, could truly understand this culture.
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Not just taste it at a restaurant, but experience where it comes from and why it holds meaning.
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Hangzhou is often called rice wine, but that's actually a little misleading.
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It's brewed, not fermented like grape wine.
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The process is closer to making beer, except it uses gluttonous rice instead of barley.
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For those of us used to wine from Napa or Bordeaux, Hongzhou is a completely different experience.
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Depending on how it's prepared, it can taste sweet, nutty, earthy, or savory.
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It's often served warm in small ceramic cups, which changes the flavor profile entirely.
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The alcohol content is usually between 12 and 18%.
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And if you've ever cooked Chinese food or eaten at a Chinese restaurant, chances are you've encountered Xiaxing wine without even realizing it.
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It's an essential ingredient in Chinese kitchens, showing up in everything from meat marinades to stir-fry sauces.
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Making it traditionally involves over 20 distinct steps.
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Each one requires attention and skill.
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And unlike modern industrial production, which values consistency and efficiency, traditional wangjo making values something else entirely.
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The human element.
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Your patience, your timing, your instincts, they all leave traces in the wine.
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Now in the West, we tend to think of traditional crafts as nostalgic.
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It's something nice to preserve, sure, but not essential.
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But in places like Xiao Xing, these traditions aren't just cultural artifacts.
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They represent centuries of accumulated wisdom about fermentation, about local ecosystems, about how to work with natural processes.
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When these traditions disappear, we don't just lose a product, we lose a way of understanding the world.
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And that's what makes Zhu's work so significant.
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He's teaching people to actually make wine a traditional way, with their own hands, using methods that haven't changed in centuries.
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We're gonna pause right here for a quick break and we'll be right back.
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Today's episode is supported by China Eastern Airlines.
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They offer three nonstop routes from the United States to Shanghai Pudong, which is how I traveled while I was working on this series.
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China Eastern is headquartered in Shanghai and is one of China's major international carriers.
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The airline operates 108 domestic and overseas branches worldwide and serves destinations across China, Asia, Europe, and other global regions.
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They're also a member of the Sky Team Alliance, partnering with airlines such as Delta and allowing Sky Miles members to earn news miles across participating carriers.
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On international flights, China Eastern offers three cabins of service, first class suites, business class, and economy.
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Long haul routes include entertainment screens, and Wi-Fi is available for purchase in Economy class.
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If you're planning travel to Shanghai or exploring future international trips, you can find current schedules and booking information on the China Eastern Airlines website, which I'll link in the notes of this episode.
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Okay, let's get back to it.
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There's something else worth understanding about Zhu's background.
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He grew up in a small town near Jianhu Lake that's been a winemaking center for generations.
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So this wasn't a career choice for him.
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It was part of his childhood, part of his identity.
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Which raises an interesting question.
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What happens when you grow up inside a tradition that the rest of the world is forgetting?
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Do you move on?
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Do you adapt to modern life and let the old ways fade?
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Or do you fight to preserve something that might not survive without you?
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Zoo chose the second path, and that choice requires sacrifice.
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Traditional craft doesn't scale.
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It can't be rushed, and it doesn't really generate the kind of profit margins that modern businesses expect.
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It requires constant effort, deep knowledge, and a willingness to do things the slow and sometimes difficult way.
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And yet he keeps doing it.
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My name is Zhu Xing Li.
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Now I'm in an Yellow Rice Wine Islands in the Ku Chiao of Zhujiang Province in Shaosing City.
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And I'm running a homestead.
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This homestay is Homestay has the Yellow Rice wine producing themed.
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This is also the first integral cultural heritage themed homestay in Zhejiang.
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Can you talk about this area and what it means to you and your family?
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It's a so good place for my homestay operation because uh when the guests come here, they have a place or they have a workshop or they have a platform to know the yellow rhymed wines producing culture here.
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This is the very typical part of the Chinese culture in Shaoxian City.
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And it's very, very helpful for me to uh let more people know, uh especially the overseas tourists to know our yellow rice wine culture.
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How did the journey begin um in this world of wine?
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When was the moment you knew I think this is the path that I'll take?
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Wanan Tsung Xiao, Woman.
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Well, I was born just uh beside um the Jianhu Lake, and there is a name of for it is uh Hu Tang.
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This is the traditional term for producing the yellow rice wine here.
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And um so in such places in this area, there are lots of the famous brands or the famous factory producing the yellow rice wine in China.
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What makes this process here different from other places?
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So you could even choose.
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This water system just locates in the upper system of the Jianghu Lake.
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The water from the Jianghu Lake is used to brewing, for brewing the yellow rice wine producing.
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It's very, very important.
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So brewing is both a science and an art.
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Which part do you find the most joy in in this whole process?
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Uh, what does this mean?
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This kind of work it will show the person's personality at all.
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If you are a, you know, you always do something in harsh and then your the wine, the wine's flavor uh after the fermentation it becomes different.
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Yeah.
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It shows totally your personality.
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Interesting.
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And uh uh another thing is just take an example, uh for for the pottery jar, that means it the best temperature for the fermentation is around 27 to 30 degrees Celsius, the temperature.
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It's too high too too heat, and then you need to cool down using the handmade tools.
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And uh if it's too cold, you may to uh wear the pottery jum more, like wear more clothes to keep warm for that.
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So this kind of thing um is full of um.
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There's so much to learn, it's so fascinating.
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That's right, definitely.
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So visitors can now stay at your home stay and experience this firsthand.
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What do you hope they feel when they visit?
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Every guest uh in this homestay is offered a kind of you know long process of experience.
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The first is seeing, see what, see just uh how the handmade crafts do this kind of things.
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And the second is sh learning, learning the knowledge, how to, you know, uh about uh what is this and how do we do it.
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And the third is to being being a you know uh a very, you know, just like the Chinese um Shenxian, how to say that.
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It's kind of really enjoying everything.
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Being the moment.
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Yeah, being the moment.
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Okay, being the moment.
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Tasting, tasting the beautiful wine.
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And uh the fifth thing, brewing, brewing, or producing a jar of your own.
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The last thing is to uh preserving, preserving.
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Um okay, for this part, he also told me actually you you can preserve something or preserve some your your love in this kind of the jar.
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You can even maybe a love letter in this or something special in the jar and preserve it for your family.
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I love that.
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So you've written searching for the taste of Xiao Ting.
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What inspired you to write this book and what message do you want to leave readers with?
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She's a T instrument, yeah, Jam, this is a woman.
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This book is uh this book provides um the customs, the local food, the cuisines, and the best uh, you know, the craftsmanship in Shao Singh for every reader's you can know about more about Shao Sing.
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Yeah.
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For example, in this book, there is a part for introducing the the cuisine, the food for we how we uh you know how to how we serve for the best uh distinguished guest from other place.
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And uh we called it shuan to that means 10 service dishes for the whole meal, yeah, and the best things in it.
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It's a very, very traditional custom to serving.
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When visitors come here, what experience or moment or feeling do you want them to remember the most?
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Every guest I will send her a gift.
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The gift is uh a little pottery jar.
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Inside is the wine, the guest made it by himself.
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I think this is the whole thing represents all the yellow range wine culture, the stories and all the efforts the guest had made in put in it.
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Yeah, I think and uh it's very helpful.
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It's very helpful to make more people to experience and to know the stories because he had been here, right?
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Yes, yes, I love that.
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And both of these are the symbols for what you have done or keep your secrets in it, and uh some guests will uh write down the best wishes or the best uh blessings for their own children inside uh the pottery jam.
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Yes.
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That's really unique.
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Is is there a moment that you can remember from a guest being here that in that moment you felt this is why this is my purpose, this right here of how they are feeling.
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And before he came to my home state, he he knows little about such kind of things.
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And when he came here, I always share with him and uh tell him how we made such kind of old thing and how to taste it, and he learned a lot about that, and he became love loved this, the yellow rice wine.
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And when he got back to home to Beijing, he you know, we became very, very good friends, almost the best friends, and besides our friendship, uh the man even became a volunteer to help me to spread this yellow rice wine culture in Beijing, in northern part of China.
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So I really appreciate that.
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Yes.
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That's really great.
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So I have one more question.
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Do you have words that you live by or words of wisdom or a favorite quote that you would like to share with those that are watching or listening?
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I believe once you are interested in something and you keep doing on this, I will make it.
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Yeah, that's what I believe for a long time.
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Uh, because you know, I run this homestay, the this workshop, this uh wine cultural center.
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Actually, it's um it's hard working.
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I I put a lot in it and uh it's very uh you know efforts, it's it's a labor-intensive, I think.
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Uh and also I could not do a lot income from it because I have other industries and some other things to cover this cost here.
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But I really, really love this.
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So um maybe in future, one day I as I live from this world, I will say, well, um I I won't be regretful because I did this, because this I really love it.
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Yeah, I think that's so important, and I also think that when we are doing things that we love, it's not necessarily work because it is our passion.
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So thank you so much for welcoming me here and your hospitality.
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It's been so interesting to be introduced to something new and unique, and I am incredibly grateful for you gifting me with your time and and all of your efforts today.
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Thank you.
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I just got to thank you.
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Thank you, Adam, because you did what I want to do to tell more foreigners Americans know this yellow rhyme wine culture.
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Thank you again.
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I can't wait to share it.
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Thank you.
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There's a moment in our conversation where Jou talks about a guest from Beijing, someone who knew nothing about yellow rice wine before visiting, someone who became a friend and then became a volunteer ambassador for Xiao Xing wine culture.
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And that moment matters because it illustrates something important.
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Traditions don't survive through preservation alone.
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They survive through transmission, through people experiencing something meaningful and then carrying it forward.
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And when you understand the role Xiaxian wine has played in Chinese culture, you realize why the transmission matters so much.
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Wine has been used in ceremonies here since around 770 BC.
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Today it still takes center stage during toast at weddings, banquets, and family gatherings, symbolizing well wishes, respect, and the coming together of loved ones.
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It's deeply embedded in family traditions, especially when honoring ancestors.
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When families pour the wine during these rituals, they're creating a connection between generations, keeping the past alive in the present.
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Zhu has also written a book, Searching for the Taste of Shao Xing, that documents the city's food customs, its cultural practices, and its relationship with wine.
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It's an invitation to understand Xiao Xing more deeply, the ancient city, its traditions, and the way people actually live.
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One example, the book describes Shiwanto, a traditional tin course meal, served to distinguished guests.
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It's a custom that reflects how hospitality and culture intertwine in Shaoshing.
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These are the kind of details that matter to the small traditions that tell larger stories.
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It's all part of a larger project, creating multiple access points for people to understand what Xiao Xing represents, not as a tourist destination, but as a living culture.
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At the end of our conversation, when I asked him for the words he lives by, he said that when you love something and keep working at it, that effort has value regardless of conventional measures of success.
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And he's honest about the difficulty.
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He supports this cultural work through other income sources.
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It requires constant effort.
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To some, it might not be the most practical choice.
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But when he imagines looking back on his life, he knows he won't regret it because he did something that he believed in.
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I've been thinking about that perspective a lot.
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We live in a world that measures success through growth, efficiency, and profit.
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And those aren't bad metrics, but they're not the only metrics.
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Some things matter because they connect us to the past, because they teach us patience and attention, because they remind us that not everything worth doing can be optimized or scaled.
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Zoo is preserving a tradition that survived for thousands of years.
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But more than that, He's demonstrating what it looks like to commit to something meaningful, even when the path is difficult, even when the outcome is uncertain, even when the world isn't applauding.
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That kind of commitment is rare, and it's worth paying attention to.
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Thank you for listening to Voices of Inspiration.
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I'll see you next week.
