Beer region
Heilongjiang
黑龙江Hēilóngjiāng
Heilongjiang Province · Harbin, the birthplace of beer in China
- Province
- Heilongjiang Province
- Climate
- Cold continental, with very long winters
- Main products
- Vidal,Amur grape,Beibinghong
- Key city
- Harbin
- Brewery
- Harbin
- Since
- 1900
Heilongjiang, China's northernmost province on the border with Russia, is where beer arrived in China. Around 1900, during the construction of the Trans-Manchurian Railway, Russian, Polish and Czech settlers opened breweries in Harbin to supply the railway workers. One of them, founded by Jan Wróblewski, became Harbin Brewery, the oldest in China. The province's long, harsh winters also make it a place for ice wine and cold-hardy grapes.
The first brewery in China
Harbin grew up around the railway built by Russia across Manchuria at the end of the 19th century, and it still shows its Russian heritage in its architecture. In 1900 Jan Wróblewski, of Polish origin, founded what is considered China's first European-style brewery. It was renamed Gloria in 1908, and after 1949 it became the state-owned Harbin Brewery. Today it belongs to AB InBev and is a leading brewer of northeast China. In 2014 the company opened the Harbin Beer Museum.
Ice wine and cold-hardy grapes
Heilongjiang's extreme cold limits vineyards, but it suits grapes bred for the cold. Beibinghong, the Chinese-bred grape for red ice wine, is grown here, and Vidal is planted for ice wine.
History
1900
Jan Wróblewski founds a brewery in Harbin, the first European-style brewery in China.
1908
The brewery is renamed Gloria.
2014
The Harbin Beer Museum opens.
Climate & soils
- Climate
- Cold continental, with very long winters
Sub-regions
Harbin哈尔滨
The provincial capital, home of Harbin Brewery, China's oldest.
Producers
Bottles
Visit
In Harbin, the Harbin Beer Museum tells the story of China's oldest brewery. The city's Russian-era architecture recalls the railway that brought beer to China.
Sources
- Beer and socialist marketing in China — Redalyc
- Beer in China — Shanghai Information Office
- Beibinghong — Wein.plus