For China's Hakka people, alcohol made from rice is a totem, and the village of Zhixi in Fujian province is perhaps the premier place for it

Of the cultural staples that the Hakka ethnic group is famous for - including architecture, music and cuisine - perhaps the most influential is rice wine. For the Hakka, homemade rice wine is a test of a housewife's skill.

It is said that you can tell how a woman runs her household by the taste of her wine. So sacred is the process and product that a saying among the Hakka goes: "No one dares claim mastery of brewing rice wine or grinding tofu," (蒸酒磨豆腐,唔敢逞師傅). If you want a deep understanding of rice wine, there is no better place than Zhixi village (芷溪村) in the south of Liancheng county (連城縣) in southeastern China's Fujian province. Zhixi's basin terrain makes a natural wine cellar. The rich rain and fertile land yields high-quality sticky rice and the old wells provide clear, sweet water.

Home of the Hakka people for hundreds of years, this small village has a little over 10,000 residents, as well as a large number of ancient temples and traditional dwellings from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. It is referred to as the home of the "Hakka great old mansions" for its architectural heritage. On these ancient streets, rice wine shops are found every few meters, part of life in Zhixi for nearly six centuries.

It would be inaccurate to say rice wine is a presence in the life of the Hakka people from cradle to grave; it starts at conception. When women get pregnant, they make yuezi wine. After a baby is born, "birth wine" is made. When the baby reaches one month, "full month wine" is made, and "full year wine" is prepared for its first birthday.

Engagement and wedding wines are necessary for a happy marriage. Then you have your housewarming wine and promotion wine, as well as a university wine. In your waning years, the birthdays of the elderly are met with, you guessed it, more rice wine.

Of course, wine means stories. Despite its rural nature, the area has birthed many famous scholars. In the Qing Dynasty, a local family named Yang produced scholars for seven consecutive generations.

The family had an uncle and a nephew pass imperial examinations in the same year. On this rare occasion, celebrities of the age visited the Yang family. Not expecting such an onslaught of guests, the Yangs couldn't find enough food to serve them, so they brought out their freshly brewed rice wine. The wine was so well liked that the guests supposedly commented: "Ten thousand types of wine can't compare with a cup of this rice wine."

Today, the village has grown and developed, but the art of winemaking hasn't changed much. People still make rice wine with natural materials and simple utensils. Many visitors today seek well-preserved historical sites as well as the aroma of the handcrafted rice wine. To the villagers, it has been and always will be the smell of home.

Courtesy of The World of Chinese, www.theworldofchinese.com

The World of Chinese