Lúzhōu

Lúzhōu stands on the upper Yangtze and is renowned for its strong liquor. Its distillers ferment grain in mud-lined pits, preserving the microbial life that gives successive batches their distinctive fragrance. Among the city's old fermentation pits are examples dated to 1573, the first year of the Wanli reign, a testament to a craft sustained through generations of brewers.