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Wine history

  1. 1892

    Changyu is founded

    Zhang Bishi founds Changyu in Yantai, Shandong, China's first modern winery, and imports more than 120 grape varieties.

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  2. 1915

    First international award

    Changyu's Koya brandy wins a Grand Prize at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.

  3. 1931

    Noble Dragon

    Changyu first bottles Noble Dragon, made from Cabernet Gernischt, later shown by DNA to be Carmenère.

  4. 1976

    China's first dry white

    Winemaker Guo Qichang and his team make China's first dry white wine at the Shacheng winery in Huailai, Hebei.

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  5. 1982

    Ningxia's first vineyards

    The first modern wine vineyards are planted in Ningxia.

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  6. 1983

    China's first dry red

    Changli Winery, in Hebei, makes China's first bottled dry red wine.

  7. 1999

    A diplomatic vineyard

    China and France sign the agreement that creates the Sino-French Demonstration Vineyard in Huailai, today's Domaine Franco-Chinois.

  8. 2001

    Marselan and ice wine arrive

    Marselan is planted in China for the first time, in Huailai; the first ice wine vineyards are planted in Huanren, Liaoning.

  9. 2011

    The trophy

    Helan Qingxue's Jia Bei Lan 2009 wins an International Trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards, putting Chinese wine on the world map.

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  10. 2012

    Recognition

    Ningxia becomes an OIV observer; Hexi Corridor wine in Gansu receives geographical indication protection.

  11. 2013

    China's first winery classification

    Ningxia introduces a Bordeaux-inspired classification of its wineries.

  12. 2016

    A Himalayan grand vin

    LVMH releases Ao Yun 2013, from vineyards at up to 2,600 m in Yunnan.

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  13. 2019

    Lafite in China

    Domaine de Long Dai, Château Lafite's estate in Shandong, launches its first wine, the 2017.

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  14. 2021

    National pilot zone

    A national pilot zone for the grape and wine industry is inaugurated in Ningxia.

  15. 2022

    Chinese wine on La Place de Bordeaux

    Ao Yun 2018 becomes the first Chinese wine released through the Bordeaux négociant system.

  16. 2023

    Biodynamic China

    Silver Heights becomes the first Demeter-certified biodynamic winery in China.

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Grapes have grown in China for over two thousand years. Tradition says the envoy Zhang Qian brought vines back from Central Asia in the 2nd century BC, and by the Tang dynasty grape wine from the western oases was famous enough to appear in poetry: Wang Han's 'Liangzhou Song' opens with 'fine grape wine in luminous cups' (葡萄美酒夜光杯). Wine was drunk at the Mongol court under the Yuan, then faded behind rice wine and baijiu for centuries. Modern Chinese wine began in 1892, when the overseas merchant Zhang Bishi founded Changyu in Yantai and imported more than a hundred European grape varieties. For most of the 20th century, though, Chinese wine meant sweet, often blended drinks. The turning point came late: the first dry white in 1976, the first bottled dry red in 1983, and in the 1980s and 1990s joint ventures and new state wineries that learned from France. Since 2000 the change has been dramatic. Ningxia, at the foot of the Helan Mountains, went from desert to China's most celebrated wine region, Xinjiang and Gansu expanded along the old Silk Road, and Yunnan proved that high-altitude vineyards could make world-class wine. In 2011 a Ningxia red won an International Trophy at the Decanter World Wine Awards; since then LVMH, Château Lafite and a new generation of family estates have shown that China can make wines with a sense of place, not just volume. Today the story is about identity. Marselan has become a Chinese signature, winters still force growers in the north to bury their vines, and small wineries are experimenting with biodynamics, local varieties and native grapes. Chinese wine is young, but it is no longer an experiment.

Sources

  1. Grand cellar: Changyu and the wine region of Yantai — The World of Chinese, 2019
  2. Cheong Fatt Tze, the Blue Mansion celebrates its founder's winemaking legacy — Robb Report Malaysia
  3. China's wine industry: from first dry white to global recognition — China Daily, 2025
  4. Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei wine region — Wynn Signature Chinese Wine Awards
  5. Wine meets diplomacy: Domaine Franco-Chinois turns 25 — Vino Joy News, 2024
  6. Ten years on: Chinese wine's breakthrough moment at DWWA — Decanter, 2021
  7. Ningxia: China's rapidly emerging fine wine region — Decanter, 2024
  8. Shape-shifter: a deep dive into Chinese Marselan's many looks — The Drinks Business, 2025