Why is Changyu the cradle of China’s wine industry?
In 1915, Changyu won the Superior Certificate of Merit and Gold Award inPanama Pacific International Exposition.
Zhang Bishi, a famous patriotic overseas Chinese,traveledto the southeast Asia at the age of 16, who started from apprenticeat first, then gradually did business, and laterspecializedinindustry, being the richest one of the southeast Asia.In 1892, Zhang Bishi investigated in Yantai during his business trip and confirmed Yantai as an ideal grape planting area. He commenced the construction of the plant, and invested 3 million taels of silver topurchase an area in the eastern and western mountains of Yantai covering nearly 1000 mu and import more than 120 kinds of high-qualitygrapes from Europe and China to build an international famous grape base. Meanwhile, it introduced mechanized production modeand changed the wine storage vessel from urn to oak barrel. Since then, the wine production technology of China stepped into a new stage.
In 1914, the products of Changyu Brandy, Traminer and Red Wine were granted the Superior Award onNanyangIndustrialExpositionandCommodityDisplay Contest held by Shanghai Merchants Group in Nanjing. In 1915, inPanama Pacific International Exposition, Changyu Brandy, Red Wine,Rieslingand Traminer won the Gold Award and Superior Certificate of Merit, indicatingthebirth of the universally acknowledgedwine in China. Changyu created a new era for the industrial production of Chinese wine, enjoying the reputation of“thecradle of China’s wine industry”.