After steaming the glutinous rice, Chen Qixun spreads it out to cool. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
In the early hours, mist still clings to Dongdu village, Yutian town, Fuzhou. Sixty-five-year-old Chen Qixun carries a wooden bucket to the village well, drawing a ladle of clear water — the starting point for his winter brewing.
Chen is an inheritor of the Changle yellow wine and Dongdu Qinghong rice wine brewing techniques, recognized as icons of China's intangible cultural heritage, with nearly six decades of experience.
Qinghong rice wine, a distinctive yellow wine of the Fuzhou region, is crafted from steamed glutinous rice fermented with red yeast, combined with sweet well or spring water, and aged in traditional clay vats until it turns bluish. The Chen family has preserved this craft for five generations.
Unlike other yellow wines with 12 to 15 percent alcohol content, Dongdu Qinghong rice wine is unique for its 19.7 percent. A critical stage of brewing, known as "grain busk baking", requires burying the jars in husks and slow cooking them over a low fire for 36 hours at a steady 60 C, activating special yeast strains.
Beyond production, Chen engages with schools and communities, hosting intangible heritage workshops to show young people how a single grain of rice, guided by time and skill, becomes a cup of wine. "I want them to understand that this is not just flavor — it carries the wisdom of our ancestors and a way of approaching life," he said.
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