Zhuyeqing: Ancient elixir for good health

Photos Provided to China Daily

Foreigners drink alcohol for various reasons, but using it for a healthy life is not often one of them.

Yet for many Chinese, health is often cited as a major appeal.

Medicinal wine and spirits - made with herbs and other traditional medicines - are highly prized in Chinese culture.

Zhuyeqing - or "bamboo green" - is among them. Though it does not contain any bamboo ingredients, it does have 12 materials considered medicinal.

The liquor, a golden color shimmering with emerald green, has a glittering and translucent appearance. Just one sip, rich and pleasant to the palate, imparts a long-lasting aftertaste.

Zhuyeqing liquor was renowned as far back as 1,500 years ago in the Southern and Northern Dynasties when it was a popular drink among those with royal rank.

Xiao Gang, an emperor in the Liang Dynasty (502-557), once wrote a poem that described drinking Zhuyeqing with a bamboo cup in a peaceful and serene setting.

The poem is the earliest mentioning China's medicinal wine and spirits, and was constantly quoted by later generations to describe the liquor's fragrance and flavor.

But the early Zhuyeqing was different from that made today. It was not until Fu Shan - a renowned thinker, doctor and calligrapher in the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) - mixed medicines with the liquor and added more valued material that Zhuyeqing became an authentic health drink.

In 1975, Chinese scientist Hua Luogeng tried many ways to improve techniques used in making Zhuyeqing, and finally worked out a systematic method of making a healthier liquor.

Based on traditional Chinese medical theories, Zhuyeqing focuses on four functions - clearing, nursing, nourishing and cultivating, four steps that make the body sound and strong.

Compared with wine and spirits mixed with animal parts such as snake gall or tiger bone, Zhuyeqing is a milder and safer herbal liquor that can be used by a wider variety of people.

With its healthcare function and historic background, Zhuyeqing is now favored by many consumers.

In five national wine and liquor tasting competitions, Zhuyeqing was rated as China's only famous health liquor three times.

It has also won several other awards from both home and abroad.

Despite modernization of production (left) beginning in the 1970s, traditional techniques for storage (right) are still used in making the medicinal liquor.