China's first wine company

In 1892, patriotic overseas Chinese Cheong Fatt Tze (Chang Bishi), with the aspiration of revitalizing the nation through industry, established CHANGYU Company in Yantai, thus marking the beginning of industrial wine-making in China.

Three introductions of wine grapes

In the early days, CHANGYU introduced 124 varieties, totally 690,000 grapevine plants from Europe, to build the vineyard., Due to different terroir, most of the them failed to thrive. the effort of changing plant origin still failed. Eventually in the third year, they use local wild vine as rootstock, to cultivate high-quality wine grapes which adapted to Yantai’s terroir, ending the history of China’s lack of premium wine grapes. To this day, over 90% of the vine varieties in China are introduced and named by CHANGYU.

Three requests for winemakers

In the early days of CHANGYU, Cheong Fatt Tze (Chang Bishi) sought to hire winemaker from overseas at significant expense as traditional wine-making techniques was hard to search. The first applicant was from Britain, but unfortunately passed away on route due to a dental issue. The second applicant was from the Netherlands, but after two years, it was determined that he did not meet the requirements of CHANGYU. Subsequently, Baron M. Von Balboa, a scion of a wine-making family who served as the vice-consul of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Yantai, volunteered himself and became CHANGYU’s first generation of chief winemaker.

Building the first underground wine cellar in Asia

From 1894 to 1905, through a transition from traditional to modern methods, and then a combination of Eastern and Western techniques, CHANGYU finally built Asia’s first underground wine cellar after 11 years of efforts, which left visiting foreign engineers in awe, praising it “a miracle in the history of wine cellar architecture”!

Producing China's first bottle of wine and first bottle of brandy

Since its founding in 1892, CHANGYU produced China’s first bottle of wine 7 years later in 1899, and produced the first bottle of Chinese brandy 22 years later in 1914.

Panama World Expo won 4 major gold medals

In 1915, at the Panama Pacific International Exposition held in the United States, CHANGYU’s Rose red wine, Riesling white wine, Koya Brandy, Traminer, Vermouth won the highest award - the Grand Prize, marking the first international accolades for Chinese wine and brandy.

Build China's first specialized winery

In 2002, the establishment of China’s first professional Chateau, the Chateau Changyu-Castel, ushered in the era of premium Chinese wines.

Around 16,667 hectares of vineyards worldwide

Currently, CHANGYU has established extensive grape raw material bases exceeding 16,667 hectares and eight major chateaux across regions such as Shandong, Ningxia, Beijing, Liaoning, Xinjiang, and Shaanxi. Additionally, the Company has set up six chateaux in France, Spain, Chile, and Australia, making it one of the most globally expansive wine enterprises.

Independently selected and bred domestic yeast strains

The 3 self-owned intellectual property yeast strains developed by CHANGYU have been extensively utilized in production, overcoming the previous dependence on imported foreign yeasts.

The largest wine enterprise in Asia

Ranking Second in Global Brand Value by 2023

In 2020, 2021, and 2023, CHANGYU was ranked second respectively on the “World’s Most Valuable Wine Brand” list published by the Brand Finance, an internationally renowned brand valuation agency.

Changyu: Ranked first in "2023 Global Strongest Wine&Champagne Brand"

In the ranking released by the Brand Finance, CHANGYU scored the highest at 83.2 points, being the Top 1 of the “World’s Strongest Wine & Champagne Brands” list.