Ningxia's wineries brew up vintage success

The region's winemakers are creating jobs and raising living standards. Zhao Yimeng and Hu Dongmei report from Yinchuan.

On a summer afternoon in a winery in Yinchuan, capital of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, Liu Li explained the winemaking process to visitors.

"Among all fruits, only the sugar in grapes can be made into good wine. Quality is what we pursue. By scanning the QR code on each bottle, you can see its history-from when and where the grapes were picked to how the wine was aged in an oak barrel," she said.

As director of a plant at the Chateau Lilan winery, the 38-year-old is familiar with every step in the process of making a bottle of red wine and the sophisticated machinery involved.

"We women hadn't seen this equipment before working here, nor did we dare operate it. However, we were encouraged to learn skills in the winery, despite our limited knowledge and abilities," she said.

Before 2013, when she moved to Yinchuan's Minning township, where the winery is located, Liu was an unemployed mother of two in Guyuan, an impoverished city in the south of the region.

She farmed a small piece of land at home while her husband was a migrant worker at an urban construction site, bringing in just enough money to make ends meet. "We lived just above starvation level," Liu said.

The family was relocated to the capital in the north of Ningxia as the regional government worked to lift villagers out of poverty. In her seven-year journey from field laborer to plant director, Liu has seen her monthly salary double to 5,000 yuan ($712) and she has learned many new skills.

Despite her success, Liu doesn't regard herself as a professional vintner because she has gained all her knowledge and techniques from training sessions and practice at work.

"The winery provided women like me with job opportunities, and we got to earn money and learn new skills," she said.

Her husband now oversees a 60-hectare vineyard, where he prunes, fertilizes and assesses the growth of the grapes. As they work in the same business, the couple can encourage and support each other.

"We not only turned the tide financially, but also changed mentally. My husband is an expert viticulturist and I know all about winemaking, so we have both made progress by learning from each other," Liu said. She added that their steady jobs enabled them to buy a car in 2016 and they sometimes take their children on trips.

"We have benefited a lot from the relocation policy and the winery, so I hope my children will become teachers or doctors in the future as a way of saying 'thank you' to society," she said.

Hai Fugui moved to Yongning county, Yinchuan, eight years ago.

In 2016, his attention was attracted by a tractor that was passing his house. As a motoring enthusiast, the 38-year-old wondered what the tractor was doing there, so he spoke with the driver who told him that jobs were available in the vineyard at Chateau Lilan.

After a week's training, Hai became a winery employee, driving a tractor to weed the fields and inspect the vines to ensure they remained free of pests.

Earning an average monthly salary of 5,500 yuan, Hai's income is double that in his previous job as a foreman at a raspberry canning plant.

"I love my work. I never feel tired, just a little hot sometimes under the burning sun," he said. He bought his dream car in 2017 and sometimes takes his family of seven on trips to nearby scenic spots.