Traditional Distilled-Liquor Brewing Technique (Wuzhen Sanbai Liquor)

The Wuzhen Sanbai brewing technique represents the traditional distilled-liquor craft of the Jiangnan; the Wanli-era Jiaxing Prefecture Gazetteer of the Ming already records the method of making qu from pure white wheat with white rice and white water. For centuries it has been handed down in the wine shops along the canal at Wuzhen, and it is now listed as a Jiaxing municipal intangible heritage with Wuzhen Tourism Co. as the protecting unit.

The method uses glutinous rice as the grain, white wheat for the qu and clear canal water, passing through steaming, cooling, qu-mixing, saccharification and fermentation, then distillation to draw off a clear, fragrant liquor, every step relying on the master's word-of-mouth teaching and the eye of experience.

The Sanbai brewing craft carries the wine culture and canal-trade memory of the Jiangnan water towns, an important vehicle for studying the regional schools of Chinese traditional distilled liquor and everyday folk life.

The Gaogongsheng wine shop in Wuzhen's East Scenic Zone demonstrates the Sanbai brewing and offers tastings.