Beer in China

Beer in China (simplified Chinese: 中国啤酒; traditional Chinese: 中國啤酒; pinyin: Zhōngguó píjiǔ) has become increasingly popular in the last century. Chinese beer has also seen a rise in popularity internationally in the last few decades. While most Chinese beers are pale lagers, other styles are occasionally found, such as Tsingtao Dark Beer.

History

Production and consumption of beer in China has occurred for around nine thousand years, with recent archaeological findings showing that Chinese villagers were brewing beer-type alcoholic drinks as far back as 7000 BC on small and individual scales. Made with rice, honey, and grape and hawthorn fruits, this early beer seems to have been produced similarly to that of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Ancient Chinese beer was important in ancestral worship, funeral and other rituals of Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, and the beer was called as Lao Li (醪醴 in oracle bone script). However, after the Han Dynasty, Chinese beer faded from prominence in favor of huangjiu, which remained the case for the next two millennia. Modern beer brewing was not introduced into China until the end of 19th century, when Russians established a brewery in Harbin, with another three following (also in Harbin), set up by Germans, Czechoslovaks and Russians respectively. Japanese also established in 1934 in Mukden Manchurian Beer, which later became Shenyang Snow Beer and the origin of Snow Beer when it was absorbed in 1994 by China Resources Enterprises.