客家娘酒
Brewing the wine of coming home
Weeks before the Chinese New Year
Hakka families in Meizhou brew sweet glutinous rice wine before the New Year, as a symbol of reunion with relatives who come home from far away.
The hidden road →The drinking calendar 酒历
When China drinks what: festivals, rituals and brewing seasons, month by month.
January
February
屠苏酒
New Year: the youngest drink first
1st day of the 1st lunar month (late January–February)
For centuries tusu wine was drunk on New Year's morning from youngest to oldest: the young gain a year, the old lose one. Today it is a story, not a recipe: the historical formula included toxic aconite.
The hidden road →立春 · 压榨
Pressing the winter wine in Shaoxing
立春, Start of Spring (around 4 February)
At Start of Spring, Shaoxing brewers press the yellow wine that has been fermenting since early winter.
The hidden road →March
糖酒会
China's great drinks fair opens in Chengdu
Late March (in 2026: 22–28 March), in Chengdu
The spring China Food and Drinks Fair, known in China as the 'Sugar and Wine Fair', fills Chengdu with baijiu makers, wineries and buyers from all over the country. Hotels turn into tasting rooms for a week.
葡萄出土
Ningxia digs up its vines
Early spring, from late March, when the frost is over
Buried under soil all winter to survive the cold, Ningxia's vines are dug up by hand and tied back onto their wires. Winemakers first unearth a few test vines to check they survived.
April
三月三
Three-Three: shanlan wine shared from the jar
3rd day of the 3rd lunar month (usually April)
At the 三月三 festival in Hainan, Li communities share shanlan rice wine, traditionally sipped through bamboo tubes from a common jar.
The hidden road →谷雨 · 封坛
Sealing the jars in Shaoxing
谷雨, Grain Rain (around 20 April)
At Grain Rain the new Shaoxing wine is sealed in clay jars, where it will age for years.
The hidden road →May
青梅酒
Green plums go into the jar
Late May to early June, around Grain in Ear (芒种)
When green plums are harvested, families across southern China steep them in spirit with rock sugar to make plum wine at home. The best jars are left for a year or two before opening.
June
端午踩曲
Dragon Boat: treading the qu in Maotai
Around the Dragon Boat Festival (5th day of the 5th lunar month, usually June)
In Maotai the year's qu starter is made around the Dragon Boat Festival: blocks of crushed wheat are trodden barefoot in hot rooms.
The hidden road →雄黄酒
Dragon Boat: the arsenic wine (a warning)
5th day of the 5th lunar month (usually June)
Realgar wine was once drunk and painted on children at the Dragon Boat Festival to ward off evil. It contains inorganic arsenic: today the custom survives as a symbol, and the wine should never be drunk or applied to skin.
The hidden road →July
马奶酒
Mare's milk season on the grassland
Summer
Summer is the season of fermented mare's milk in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, a sour, lightly alcoholic drink served to guests and at weddings and festivals.
The hidden road →August
酒药
Making the rice-ball starter in Shaoxing
7th lunar month (usually August)
In the 7th lunar month Shaoxing brewers make 酒药, small balls of rice and herbs that will start the winter fermentation.
The hidden road →September
nothing listed yet
October
菊花酒
Double Ninth: chrysanthemum wine for a long life
9th day of the 9th lunar month (usually October)
A Han-era text already records drinking chrysanthemum wine on the Double Ninth 'to live long'.
The hidden road →重阳下沙
Double Ninth: the sorghum goes in at Maotai
Around the Double Ninth Festival (usually October)
At the Double Ninth, Maotai distilleries load the year's red sorghum: the start of a cycle of nine steamings, eight fermentations and seven distillations.
The hidden road →麦曲
Making wheat qu in Shaoxing
9th lunar month (usually October)
In the 9th lunar month Shaoxing brewers make wheat qu, the second starter of their yellow wine.
The hidden road →November
羌年
Qiang New Year: zajiu around the jar
1st day of the 10th lunar month (usually November)
At the Qiang New Year, families sit in a circle around a jar of zajiu and drink through long bamboo tubes, with songs and drums.
The hidden road →立冬 · 冬酿
Winter brewing begins in Shaoxing
立冬, Start of Winter (around 7 November)
With the start of winter, Shaoxing begins its brewing season. For about 90 days masters rake the fermenting mash several times a day.
The hidden road →December
冬酿酒
Suzhou's one-night winter wine
Just before the Winter Solstice (around 21–22 December)
Suzhou brews dongniang, a sweet rice wine with osmanthus flowers, only once a year for the Winter Solstice. Locals queue with their own bottles to take home the freshest wine.
冰酒
Ice wine harvest in Liaoning
Deep winter, after 12 hours below −8 °C
In Huanren, Liaoning, Vidal grapes hang frozen on the vines for weeks. They are picked at dawn, after at least 12 hours below −8 °C, and pressed while still frozen.