A visit to wineries in Changli

Changli, a small county in Hebei province, perching at the foot of Jieshi Mountain and on the bank of Bohai Sea, welcomes guests with its fragrant red wine.

Emerald mountains and sapphire sea surround this picturesque county. In addition to the beautiful landscape, it is at 39 degrees north latitude, the same as Bordeaux in France, which brings the county adequate sunshine and large temperature differences between day and night. All these contribute to its vast plantation of grapevines.

China's first bottle of red wine was made in Changli in 1983, branded "Beidaihe", from a kind of precious grape, the "cabernet sauvignon".

Here, you can find numerous wineries, and even residents grow grapes and brewing wines at home by themselves. Now the wine brewing base around the county covers an area of 24 square kilometers.

The most famous wineries are Bodega Langes (Qinhuangdao) Corp, Kweichow Moutai Distillery Group Changli Winery Corp and COFCO (China Oil and Foodstuffs Corporation) Huaxia Greatwall Wine Corp.

Oak barrels with grapes inside stored in granite cellar in Chateau Huaxia in Changli.[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Wine cellar in Chateau Huaxia in Changli. It is said to be the largest wine cellar in Asia, covering 20,000 square meters.[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]