One winter weekend, we approached Zhouzhuang with Yuanbao.

The drizzling rain was hazy, and the weather was not very strong, but it was also found that Zhouzhuang also had quiet moments. There were no noisy voices and crowded crowds. Zhouzhuang, the thousand-year-old town, regained its original dignity and peace.

Stepping on the blue stone road, you will find a river and water pavilion with white walls and black tiles. Shallow ripples are rippling across the river. Leaves knocked down by raindrops stretch under your feet. A faint aroma of wine wafts in the air. It is mixed with the aroma of clear and sweet rice wine and mellow rice wine. Both are representatives of Jiangnan flavor. They are quiet and gentle, but have a variety of customs. The wine is not intoxicating, and you can drink alone, drink together, and invite the wind and moon.

Yes, since ancient times, Zhouzhuang "has been a Zezhou country, surrounded by water on all sides, and it is so close that everyone needs boats to travel." The developed waters have given Zhouzhuang infinite tenderness to the water town, creating the beautiful scenery of the south of the Yangtze River with small bridges and flowing water, and also nurturing a unique culture of wine.

Under the drizzle of Jiangnan, learn to make a bowl of sweet rice wine at a Centenary Wine Shop

Yuanfengshun Winery is located on Zhenfeng Culture Street in Zhouzhuang Ancient Town. It was founded during the Daoguang Period of the Qing Dynasty and has a history of more than 170 years. It is a famous old shop in Zhouzhuang and belongs to one of Zhouzhuang's "Twelve Farms". It still makes and sells wine. It has a typical building pattern with front shops and back squares, with blue tiles and wooden windows, carved beams and painted buildings. It is antique and the fragrance of wine fluttering, exuding the tempting ancient charm of Wu style.

As soon as you enter the store, there is a counter on the left, which sells various rice wine and rice wine produced by the "Yuanfengshun" winery, and square tables and benches are set up on the right for customers to drink.

Yuanfengshun Winery still maintains the traditional wine-making process. The courtyard behind the counter is a wine-making processing site and displays many wine vats. The winery is most famous for its rice wine, which is called "Wansan Yellow Wine". This is because it is said that at the end of the Yuan and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Shen Wansan, the richest man in the south of the Yangtze River, started farming in Zhouzhuang and brewed rice wine from Zhouzhuang. Yellow wine was necessary for family banquets to entertain distinguished guests. When going to sea from Zhouzhuang, he would also bring rice wine with him. Drinking can relieve homesickness worries, giving can open up channels, and selling can increase wealth.

In addition to rice wine, Yuanfengshun Winery's rice wine is also famous. Among them, the "October White" rice wine is the most famous, which refers to the rice wine brewed in October of the lunar calendar. It is "as white as hibiscus emerging from water, and fragrant as fragrant as the fragrance of osmanthus". It is sweet, soft, mellow and fragrant.

Win-making is mainly divided into nearly ten processes, including soaking rice, steaming rice, spreading rice, dropping into the jar, raking, squeezing, raw clearing, frying wine, and loading into the jar. On the same day, we experienced a hand-made rice wine process at Yuanfengshun Winery. First, dipping rice, which may seem simple, but in fact it is quite particular. It changes at different times of the season and requires precision. Otherwise, this first process will change the quality of the wine.

Steaming rice is made with an earthen stove. Yuan Bao and I also specially observed the earthen stove and added firewood to the earthen stove. We steamed it until it was ninety ripe. The color of the rice grains also began to change, from white to clear. When the smoke curled, When the aroma of rice overflows, it means that the glutinous rice has been steamed. Yes, this is the experience of the old master in the wine shop.

The aroma of the steamed rice was so fragrant that Yuan Bao couldn't help but eat it while sharing the rice. As a result, he almost couldn't stop eating.

The wine shop master beside him was very amused and very happy. You see, even three-year-old children love the taste of their glutinous rice...

Sprinkle the distiller's yeast while spreading the rice, and stir the distiller's yeast evenly with a wooden spoon. At this time, the winter rain was still pattering, and water drops fell from the eaves like broken lines. We listened to the rain in the courtyard while mixing glutinous rice. Then seal it into a small bowl with air holes, wait for fermentation, and brew our own bowl of sweet rice wine.

Wansan Winery with wine and stories, ideals and poetry

Zhouzhuang, who had revisited his old place, naturally needed some new tricks that were different from the usual, so he drove to Wansan Winery, which is known as the "Romantic Wine Island" less than 10 minutes 'drive from Zhouzhuang Ancient Town.

Wansan Winery is located on a "heart-shaped island surrounded by water on all sides near Zhouzhuang Ancient Town. It is surrounded by large rice fields and wide waters. It has just opened for business not long ago and is currently a relatively small cultural check-in place.

It was transformed from an old rice wine factory. It was formerly a dilapidated winery. Although it has inherited ancient skills,"the wine is still afraid of deep alleys" and no one cared about it.

The renovated winery has transformed into today's Wansan Winery. Under the ingenious design, it can be said that the old look has been replaced with a new look. The Jiangnan style with white walls and black tiles is the keynote. The elegance of Soviet-style buildings is vividly reflected.

As soon as you enter the winery, you can feel the design atmosphere that comes to your face. Copper coins, abacus, and rice bags can all be decorated.

Yuan Bao took a fancy to the seal placed at the front desk at a glance. There were postcards carefully prepared by the winery for tourists. Yuan Bao picked up the seal and stamped it.

Moving forward, the space in the winery is very open, atmospheric and stable, and integrates wine culture and the brewing culture of rice wine. While maintaining its own traditional characteristics, it also combines the characteristics of the literary and artistic style of the new era, presenting a very personalized cultural display for tourists.

The exhibition part is full of creativity, and I think the best idea is the "smell" part, which uses bottles and negative pressure balls to absorb the aroma of various wines for tourists to identify and judge them themselves. They can go to the back based on their own preferences. Shopping malls choose their favorite wines as accompanying gifts and take them home.

Since it is a winery, wine is naturally a major feature. In addition to traditional rice wine, the colorful green Par fruity rice wine is the most eye-catching. The beautiful glass bottle body can be transformed into a gift to please people with just holding it.

We also tasted several of them. The lotus seeds taste is slightly bitter, the red dates taste is mild, and the peach taste is a little sweet, just like the taste of love.

Being in the winery, whether it's the large wine jars scattered everywhere, or the cultural wall filled with the word "wine" in 99 different periods, the light and shadow videos about Wansan Winery, etc., it seems to be wandering around in the thousands of years of rice wine history, I recall and review Shen Wansan's legendary story.

A wooden boat named "Wansan" was quietly parked beside the small lake. It was the epitome of the busy transportation of Wansan rice wine here.

And we also took advantage of the atmosphere of Christmas at the end of the year to raise our glasses together, laughing and drinking from the Ming Dynasty to the present.

Xiangcun Qizhuang, be a classy Zhouzhuang countryman for one night

On this trip, we lived in Qizhuang, Xiangcun, Zhouzhuang, 5 kilometers away from Zhouzhuang Ancient Town. According to town annals, Han Shizhong, a famous anti-Jin general in the Southern Song Dynasty, led the navy to set up camp here. Some veterans settled here and set up flags for knowledge. They called it "Qizhuang", and then gradually evolved from "Qizhuang" to "Qizhuang".

Today's Xiangcun Qizhuang is an original Jiangnan water town village. It is natural and simple and has a strong pastoral style. Another business card created in the tourism development of Zhouzhuang has renovated the idle houses of villagers with different era themes and transformed them into A rural time-show-themed B & Bs adjacent to local villagers showcase different styles of rural families from the 1960s, 1980s, 1990s and 1900s. It can be said that a B & B is an era and a feeling.

One of the B & Bs we stayed in was a two-story building with 4 rooms upstairs and downstairs. It had a large living room and a large kitchen. Each room had a separate bathroom, which was very suitable for spending time with three or five friends or a large family.

They not only maintain their privacy but also have a space for common activities and exchanges. I especially like the simple courtyard. There is also a pressure well in the courtyard, which makes me think about my childhood life as a child.

In Qizhuang, Xiangcun, Zhouzhuang, you can eat local specialty farm dishes, and the main dishes are seasonal. Zhouzhuang Wansan Yellow Rice Wine is indispensable on the table, which is sweet and sweet, with a long aftertaste.

Xiangcun Qizhuang is very quiet, and you can hear the chirping of chickens and dogs; you can experience hand-picking, fishing and rafting. It is very suitable for the whole family in the city to experience the local customs that are different from the city. Adults and children can find their own fun. This kind of B & B culture makes people very willing to come here for a short time and be a stylish Zhouzhuang countryman for a night.

"Plant" a Christmas tree and learn to paint a flower carving wine jar

In addition to tasting a variety of fine wines and understanding the long history of rice wine, Wansan Winery is also a suitable place to spend weekends with your family.

The oversized outdoor space allows children to release themselves to their fullest. Yuan Bao especially likes the stone road covered with small stones. Running on the bumpy stone road, he has a pleasure of difficulty in driving. When the orange trees in the courtyard are ripe, he picks them up and falls and picks the oranges still hanging on the branches are also Yuan Bao's childhood joys.

Of course, various special DIY handmade activities in Wansan Winery are the biggest magic weapon for the naughty children to be willing to calm down, such as leather goods making, rice wine and cold soap making, hand-painted flower carving wine jars, etc.

When he went there, it was approaching Christmas, and Wansan Winery launched an activity to "plant" a Christmas tree in a seasonal manner. In fact, it was a handmade splicing of the Christmas tree blocks, which was not difficult, and Yuan Bao was also competent. He was particularly satisfied with the Christmas tree he had put together. That day, including taking it home, I always loved it.

The hand-painted flower carving wine altar can be said to be a unique handmade activity launched by Wansan Winery. The winery provides color trays and pens, and also prepares dirt-resistant aprons for children.

This is Yuan Bao's favorite handicraft activity at Wansan Winery. He picked up a paintbrush, dipped it in color, and waved his hair on the white wine jar, drawing one stroke at a time, extremely serious.

His focused expression is like a magic brush. As for the results, it can only be said that he followed the abstract line of the beast style... Of course, Yuan Bao was personally very satisfied. He thought his paintings were very beautiful, with the help of his biological mother's filter. In my eyes, it was naturally beautiful.

On the same day, there was also a national trend performance. Several young ladies whose costumes and styles were completely different and seemed to be different from the same dynasty danced in an extremely wonderful and harmonious dance.

When traditional culture meets contemporary trends, who can say that this is not the most fashionable Chinese style at the moment?

The light restaurant near the lake in Wansan Winery has a beautiful environment, elegant and large enough space for the whole family and group dining.

The ingredients are fresh and feature Jiangnan specialties, ranging from Chinese stir-fried rice to Western pasta, salads and sandwiches.

Conclusion:

The flower carving wine jar hand-painted by Yuan Bao was taken back by us and solemnly placed in the most eye-catching position in the living room, as if bringing home a mouthful of Jiangnan. Whether it was the "October white" with lingering fragrance from lips and teeth, or the "Wansan Yellow Rice Wine" with amber color, we were intoxicated by this trip to Zhouzhuang and soaked in the sweetness of Jiangnan wine. Wansan pots of wine were enough to comfort the dust.