77-year-old Jia Ziyan, who lives in Nanping, has been making wine for 61 years. His family’s craft for brewing osmanthus wine has been selected for the Chongqing Intangible Cultural Heritage list, but he once felt troubled that his children were not willing to inherit it. In 2018, his daughter Jia Fei officially entered the industry as the fifth-generation descendant of osmanthus wine, and accordingly Jia Ziyan finally set his mind at rest.

It is easy to find Jia Ziyan’s home which is located on a side of Shangxin Street, Nan’an District, Chongqing, after an unremarkable path and according to the fragrance of osmanthus flowers.“When I heard that someone would like to inherit my brewing craft, I was just as happy when I heard that osmanthus wine has been selected for the Chongqing Intangible Cultural Heritage list.” When it comed to wine making, Jia Ziyan, who is nearly 70 years old, grinned from ear to ear.

Jia Ziyan is busiest in every August when the osmanthus flowers of Nanshan smell sweet.“Be sure to pick osmanthus flowers when they are in their best bloom.” Every year, Jia Ziyan would go to the osmanthus forest in Nanshan to pick osmanthus flowers which bloom only once a year as the main raw materials for making osmanthus wine.

At the age of 16, Jia Ziyan officially learned how to make osmanthus wine from his father. Since then, the osmanthus fragrance has filled Jia Ziyan’s memory. At first, Jia Ziyan learned to make wine as a way to make a living, until he saw the osmanthus tree which has been around for hundreds of years.“Son, our craft is the same as the age of this tree. It’s up to you how long it can live.” Listening to his father’s words, Jia Ziyan felt his mission for the first time.

Later, Jia Ziyan became a“professional pig farmer” by a strange combination of fate. But Jia Ziyan never forgot the osmanthus fragrance in wine. Once, when he passed by Nanshan, he was very distressed when he saw the osmanthus flowers all over the ground. Therefore, he had the idea of asking local farmers to pick osmanthus flowers and continued to brew osmanthus wine. In 1991, Jia Ziyan moved his wine factory to Shangxinjie which is busy with convenient transportation. 

“In 1994, I bought osmanthus flowers at 45 yuan per jin from farmers,” said Jia Ziyan. Soon the news that he wanted to buy osmanthus flowers was spread to the surrounding farmers, and they also became experts in picking and choosing osmanthus flowers.

Osmanthus was ready and mixed with ingredients, and then encapsulated into a wooden barrel made of osmanthus trees to be sealed and fermented. Jia Ziyan told reporters that osmanthus flowers picked in the morning would be processed on the same day, and each batch of osmanthus wine would be fermented for three months to six months.

After the fermentation is done, it’s the time to stir.“1, 2, 3…299, 300”. This is the number of times that Jia Ziyan stirred osmanthus wine with a wooden stick in his hand. It must be 300.

Jia Fei is the youngest daughter of Jia Ziyan and the fifth-generation descendant of brewing osmanthus wine. Having worked in finance for many years, she was initially reluctant to take on the craft.“It's too trivial, and it is very slow to get revenue - that is every three years.” But at her wedding banquet, she was moved by the case that her father personally brewed osmanthus wine for her. Relatives and friends met her to sigh with emotion that it is rare to have such good osmanthus wine. This encouragement has made Jia Fei who was a chief financial officer decide to go home and pass on the century-old brewing craft. In 2018, she officially entered the industry to learn from her father.

Jia Ziyan would personally write the date on each jar of osmanthus wine, and seal it and place into cellar. Jia Ziyan and his father spent a lot of effort to build the clay cellar where the wine was stored.

Although Jia Fei has been learning the craft of brewing, Jia Ziyan was still worried, because“brewing requires person to be calm.” Knowing the worry, Jia Fei told him that“You can let me try it for two years. If it doesn't work, you can take it back.” Because her daughter was very determined, Jia Ziyan was relieved. In 2021, Jia Fei will also try online sales, integrating new ideas with traditional crafts, and making the wine more intoxicating. (Translated by Liu Hongyan, Fathom Language Limited)

Editor:Jiang Yiwei