Rénhuái

Renhuai lies in the mountains beside the Chishui River, where the territories of several hereditary chiefs once met. At Maotai on the riverbank, workshops used water from Yangliu Well to make liquor. By the Ming period brewing had become an established local craft, although difficult transport and warfare limited its reach. River navigation expanded during the Qing, bringing merchants and salt from Sichuan and opening a wider market for the liquor of the Chishui valley.