Beyond Shaoxing
Huiquan, from Wuxi in Jiangsu, is one of the best-known Chinese rice wines made outside Shaoxing. It is the iconic example of Su-style laojiu (苏式老酒), the 'old wine' tradition of southern Jiangsu.
A famous spring
Its name comes from the Hui spring on Huishan, the hill just west of Wuxi, celebrated for centuries by tea lovers as one of the finest springs in China. Like the Shaoxing producers with Jianhu Lake, Wuxi's brewers have long linked the quality of their wine to the purity of their water.
Why it matters
Huiquan shows that Chinese rice wine is not only Shaoxing: the lake country of the Yangtze delta has its own traditions and styles.