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Beijing's Erguotou Museum proves popular
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CNTV, December 16, 2011
Erguotou is a famous Chinese liquor that is very commonly seen on dining tables around the capital. Our reporter Ji Yi takes us to the Erguotou Museum in Beijing to learn about its unique history and cultural tradition.
The Erguotou Museum is located in the northern District of Huairou in Beijing. This area of the museum shows us how Erguotou was made in olden times. After 28 days' fermentation, the sorghum is mixed with dry rice hulks to be put in a gigantic vat.
If the mixture isn't loaded with attention, the output of liquor will be less than expected. Then during the distillation and cooling, the liquor is drained off.
Around the year 1680, many liquor makers came to Beijing, among them, three brothers with the surname Zhao created a special method to improve the quality of the liquor, which divided the distilled liquor in three parts. The initial part was too strong to drink, and the final part smelt of impurities, so taking away the head and the end, leaving only the liquor in the middle tastes the best.
Zhang Yumin, director of Beijing Erguotou Museum, said, "The fabric of Chinese liquor is different from the western types of wine like whisky and brandy, which are made by liquid distillation. However, Chinese liquor is produced through solid distillation, which makes Er Guo Tou one of the four well known distilled liquors in the world."
In 2008, Erguotou's production technique was listed in the National Intangible Cultural Heritage of China. As part of ancient Beijing culture, many visitors want to come here to learn the history of this Chinese liquor.
A visitor said, "I like drinking Erguotou and I'm curious about how it is made, and in the museum I can see the production technique."
A visitor said, "I drink Erguotou from time to time. It is old Beijing's liquor. After visiting the museum, we can understand its culture better next time we drink it."
