Wine sites excavation in Xinghua Village marks 30th anniversary

A seminar was held on Wednesday in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the archaeological excavation of ancient liquor-making sites in Xinghua Village.

The sites are famous in China’s history for its liquor production facilities.

The celebration was organized by the Fenjiu Wine Group, a liquor company headquartered in Xinghua Village, the Archaeological Society of China, and the Shanxi provincial bureau of cultural heritage.

Led by famous archaeologist Zhang Zhongpei, an archaeology team started excavating historical ruins in central Shanxi province 30 years ago.

Among some other major discoveries, some pre-historical vases with small mouths and pointed bases discovered in an excavation site in the Xinghua Village in 1982 are believed to be among the earliest water and wine vessels in human history.

“The vessels are likely proofs that the ancient Chinese invented grain alcohol some 6,000 years ago,” said Zhang, the archaeologist, who presented the seminar.

The Fenjiu Wine Group used the seminar as an occasion to promote its brand through the prolonged history of Xinghua Village as a liquor production base closely associated with Fenjiu wine.

Ancient liquor workshops in Xinghua Village, along with other liquor workshops around the country, were listed by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage as candidates for World Cultural Heritage status earlier this month.

The seminar not only allowed people to learn about the development of China’s wine-making history, but it also helps to promote Fenjiu’s reputation and brand around the world, said Li Qiuxi, chairman of the Fenjiu Group.