Jìnxián

Jinxian's history includes a substantial tradition of distilled-liquor production at Lidu, formerly called Lijiadu. The town developed a market during the Song and Yuan periods and continued as a township under the Ming and Qing. Archaeological remains at its liquor-making site provide a more precise view of this activity than later stories about famous visitors or claims about the first invention of distilled spirits.

Excavations revealed Yuan-period fermentation cellars and a Ming well, together with cooking ranges, airing floors, distilling installations, drainage channels and foundations. Workshops of later periods reused the same site, retaining much of the earlier arrangement while extending or altering parts of it. These remains trace successive stages in a working production complex, from water supply and preparation to fermentation and distillation. Lidu therefore gives Jinxian a tangible medieval and early modern industrial history, supported by surviving facilities rather than by the reputation of a modern liquor brand alone.