T-3 & 2: 伏家 → 北京

September 13, 2024 to September 14, 2024

It seems that the distillery's parent company once sponsored the Tour of Qinghai Lake

I am superbly unimpressed by the baijiu distillery. So unimpressed in fact that I'm kind of glad that, on account of three cases 2,500km away, they pulled the "because of the worsening Covid situation" card when I biked past three years ago and wouldn't let me in for a visit.

Don't get me wrong, with the exception of gibberish-level English signage, the facilities are absolutely top notch in a "someone who actually studied museum design was consulted on this project" sort of way. It's just that, separate from the total lack of any indication that they get more than 1 or 2 tourists at a time, the end product they are trying to produce is one that—shocking price tag notwithstanding—is the kind of vile "umami flavor" sorghum based liquor that is part of why baijiu persists in not gaining popularity outside China.

Some of the people managed to drink more than one of the shots provided during the tour

Historic wooden aging vats, the oldest of which are 16th century

Being a former State Owned Enterprise of the "successful at embracing capitalism" sort, the company then has another site for us to visit afterwards, and, other than it being an hour drive away¹ on the expressway, I'm absolutely in love.

Similar to the distillery which they own in that the mine is an active worksite to which a museum—mostly empty of signs that visitors have ever visited—has been clumsily appended, a great deal more effort has been put into layman level exhibits, while also managing to include a wealth of information of the sort that you'd have to be a proper geek to actually find interesting.

Collection of alcohol utensils dating back to the 9th century

Replica bronze ding (ceremonial vessel) and 1960s car in front of the mine museum

Did we need to follow a docent through their massive warehouse of core samples from across the region? No.

Was it kind of cool that we were able to? Yes.

Cooler still was the 5D movie theater (rumble seats, 3d glasses, and the sadly unused option for smellovision) where we got to watch a cartoon version of a Very Proud Employee introduce us to all the safety and environmental features that make this mine an absolute leader in both categories. With background details ranging from safety posters and newspaper racks to the 20 extra pounds one of the heavy equipment operators was carrying around his waist, it was also obvious that actual people and places from inside the mine had been 3D modelled and cartoonified.

The rest of the day was spent traipsing to and from the kind of places I like to bike and that no one really wants to visit but which the local propaganda departments would like to promote anyways².

Up at 7:30 for breakfast and a drive to some Han Dynasty inscriptions that were mostly notable for the pleasant cliffside boardwalk to go and not be able to actually see much of anything behind the protective glass wall³ that had been installed a meter in front of them.

Glory to the Roadbuilders! Plaque from 1812

Culture Revolution era heart shaped red 忠 (Loyalty to Mao) sigils

This was followed by lunch and a drive to a Local Key Agricultural Products and Rural Revitalization Display Center (where I dutifully purchased a bottle of persimmon wine to give as a gift to a Beijing friend), a dull as dishwater memorial temple on the site of Du Fu's Thatched Cottage, and the airport for our flights to Beijing.

¹ Biggest downside of junkets is the amount of time you spent being transferred from one place to the next.

The VIP waiting room we got to sit in at the airport had crochet doilies... crochet can't be made on a machine.

The Guest Reception Hall at the mine was, hard as it may be to believe, even gaudier than the Hall at the distillery

It never occurred to me that it would be possible to panel an elevator in alligator leather

² They might not end up included in any of our reports, but our presence will surely end up included in their reports.

³ I understand the logic for keeping people's grubby hands off of something 2,100 years old, and the glass was reasonably clean, but you still couldn't see anything.

I, unironically, love the decoration on this "traditional" pavilion overlooking the whole of the mine campus

Somehow, Alex, the Sri Lankan, and I, ended up in business class

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	2

Gregory GarceauYou didn't specifically say, but I assume the liquor made by the Baijiu Distillery is whiskey. I've never had sorghum whiskey, but if its anything like gluten-free, sorghum-based beer, I can appreciate your disdain for the stuff. As you said, though, it looks like the museum designers did a top-notch job.
Reply to this comment
1 month ago

Marian RosenbergTo Gregory GarceauCloser to vodka than whisky, the name "baijiu" literally means "white spirits" or "distilled grain alcohol". It doesn't always include sorghum, but it often does, and even when it doesn't, they are actually trying for that particular flavor profile.
Reply to this comment
1 month ago