Changyu Pioneer Wine Co. plans to put Chinese wines on the map

China may not be a popular travel destination for wine lovers at the moment, but it may be soon.

According to a report by the UK’s The Drinks Business, Changyu Pioneer Wine Co., located in Yantai, Shandong, has plans to build China’s largest “wine city” by 2016. A national wine research institute, vineyards, wine production centre, international wine trading centre, European-style village, and tourist attractions will cover 413 hectares of land. The entire cost of the project is estimated at more than $947 million.

Changyu Pioneer Wine Co. isn’t a new wine company. It was established by a Chinese diplomat during the Qing dynasty in 1892 by transporting vines from the Bordeaux, Bugundy, and Alsace regions in France to Yantai, China. Today, the wine company is ranked the 10th largest in the world.

In 2002, the company partnered with the Castel Group, a prominent winemaker in Bordeaux, France, to build the first French-style chateau in China, planted with a similar variety to Cabernet Franc. In 2006, Changyu Pioneer Wine Co. collaborated with Canada’s Aurora Ice Wine Co. to build the largest ice wine chateau in the world in Liaoning province.