Wine growers on a mission of good taste

Grape cultivation begins to bear fruit as tourists arrive and region's produce wins global acclaim, report Deng Zhangyu and Hu Dongmei in Yinchuan.

The moonlight poured onto a dining table placed in a vineyard where roasted lamb was offered with good wines. Diners sipped the beverage, chatted and enjoyed a "symphony" performed by nearby, but unseen, insects and animals.

The splendid evening was provided to travelers in mid-September by Li Xueren at his winery in Yinchuan, capital city of Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

From summer to autumn, Li's winery accommodates visitors from across the country who are interested in wine culture and socializing under the stars. As the number of travelers has grown in recent years, Li plans to expand the size of the dining area and increase the number of beds available to visitors.

Li's winery is one of 116 such establishments dotted along the Helan Mountains, which wind through Ningxia, a rising star on the world's wine map. It is recognized as a "gold belt" for its high-quality grapes and wines, thanks to its mild temperature, humidity, water and soil. Now Ningxia is building its wine region at the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains into a tourism destination where one of the major attractions will be good wine.

According to the Culture and Tourism Department of Ningxia, wineries in the area attract more than 1.2 million visitors every year. About 50 wineries can offer services like accommodation, wine tasting and dining, as well as a comprehensive wine culture experience.

Li's winery is close to Yinchuan, about a 20-minute drive from downtown. Facing a lake in a city park, the boutique winery is beautifully designed with a vineyard and a three-story building that houses the owner's art collection, displays his fine wine, and honors his family members and traditional culture.

"I love traditional culture. Why not to express it through the design of wine bottles. People know the wine is produced in China when they see the bottles," says the vintner, who founded Li's Vineyard in 2013.

Consequently, Li produced a wine series based on the "Five Virtues" in China promoted by Confucianism, including ren (benevolence), yi (righteousness), li (propriety), zhi (wisdom) and xin (fidelity).

Visitors can also feel the owner's love for traditional culture through his art collection in the museum-like building, where ink paintings, calligraphy works, traditional Chinese furniture and exquisite pottery pieces are exhibited. Li also loves to collect items that represent the changes in society over the decades, such as phones, TVs and radios produced in different years.

Apart from these collections, wine tasting and grape picking, there's a tent area for visitors to gaze at the luminous stars, a popular activity in Ningxia, where the vast Gobi Desert has been transformed into green land or vineyards, making it a perfect destination to study the night sky.

"I hope my guests come here to enjoy more than wine. I want to give them a comprehensive experience," Li says.