China’s modern wine story has a precise beginning: 1892, a coastal city called Yantai, and an overseas-Chinese magnate who imported hundreds of thousands of European vines — and won gold in San Francisco within a generation.
Wine in China is often treated as a 21st-century phenomenon, but its modern history is well over a hundred years old, and it began with a single, remarkable enterprise: the Changyu Pioneer Wine Company, founded in 1892 in the port city of Yantai, on the Shandong coast.[1]
A magnate’s gamble
Changyu was the creation of Zhang Bishi (also known as Cheong Fatt Tze), a fabulously wealthy Chinese entrepreneur who had made his fortune overseas in Southeast Asia.[1] During the reformist “Self-Strengthening” era, when China was importing Western technology, Zhang set out to build a modern winery from scratch. His founding of Changyu is widely regarded as the beginning of China’s modern wine industry.[1]
European vines, an Austrian winemaker
The early years were a study in trial and error on a grand scale. Zhang first bought some 2,000 vines from the United States, but few thrived; undeterred, he imported hundreds of thousands more from Europe — ultimately establishing more than 120 grape varieties.[1] To make the wine, he engaged Baron Max von Babo, the Austro-Hungarian vice-consul at Yantai and a member of a noted winemaking family.[1] It was a genuinely global undertaking: Chinese capital, American and European vines, and central-European expertise, all meeting on the Shandong coast.
Chinese capital, European vines, an Austrian winemaker — and, by 1915, gold at a California world’s fair.
Gold in San Francisco
The gamble paid off spectacularly. At the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco — a world’s fair celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal — Changyu’s wines won four gold medals.[1] A little over two decades after its founding, a Chinese winery had taken top honors on the world stage, an early and striking sign that fine wine was becoming a truly global pursuit.
| Founded | 1892, in Yantai, Shandong — China’s first modern winery[1] |
|---|---|
| Founder | Zhang Bishi (Cheong Fatt Tze), an overseas-Chinese magnate[1] |
| The build | 120+ grape varieties from Europe; winemaker Baron von Babo[1] |
| The triumph | Four gold medals at the 1915 San Francisco expo[1] |
The oldest name in Chinese wine
Changyu is today China’s oldest and largest wine producer, and its founding marks the moment the world’s most populous nation joined the long story of the vine.[1] It is a reminder that wine history is never finished — and a fitting entry among the world’s wine-and-history destinations.
Related reading: wine & history destinations of the world · the evolution of winemaking · the Wine History Timeline
Frequently asked questions
When did modern wine production begin in China?
In 1892, with the founding of the Changyu Pioneer Wine Company in Yantai by the magnate Zhang Bishi — widely regarded as the beginning of China’s modern wine industry.
What is Changyu?
China’s first modern and now oldest and largest winery, founded in 1892 at Yantai. It imported European vines and an Austrian winemaker and won four gold medals at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco.
Sources
- “Changyu Pioneer Wine Company” (founded 1892 at Yantai by Zhang Bishi / Cheong Fatt Tze; the beginning of China’s modern wine industry; ~2,000 US vines then hundreds of thousands from Europe, 120+ varieties; winemaker Baron Max von Babo; four gold medals at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition; China’s oldest and largest winery), Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changyu
Want to read more?
Books we drew on and recommend for going deeper on wine history.
The World Atlas of WineHugh Johnson & Jancis Robinson
The Sommelier’s Atlas of TasteRajat Parr & Jordan Mackay
Cork DorkBianca BoskerAs an Amazon Associate, Wine History Tours earns from qualifying purchases. This supports our research at no extra cost to you.
