Maotai Town in Renhuai City of Zunyi, Guizhou

Maotai Town in Renhuai City of Zunyi, Guizhou

Maotai is a town in the north of  Guizhou province, known as the production of Maotai wine and located on the southeast bank of the Chishui River. It is under the administration of Renhuai City.
Chinese name: 茅台镇
English Name: Maotai Town
Type: Intangible Cultural Heritage
Best Seasons: All seasons
Recommended Visiting Time: Half a day
Tickets: Free
Address: At Renhuai City, Guizhou Province

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Maotai Town

Maotai is a town in the north of  Guizhou province, known as the production of Maotai wine and located on the southeast bank of the Chishui River. It is under the administration of Renhuai City. Maotai Town has always been a famous town of the northern Guizhou, which was a portrayal of “Sichuan salt walks Guizhou, Qin Dynasty’s businessmen gather in Maotai.”in ancient times. It located at the key point of waterway transportation in Sichuan and Guizhou.

Maotai Town is a holy land of soybean paste wine. within the domain of liquor industry development, it is known as “the first wine town in China”. Besides, Maotai Town, which integrates ancient salt culture, long March culture, and wine culture, becomes a famous town of the northern Guizhou.

Introduction of Maotai Town

Main Attractions

Guojiumen（国酒门）

Maotai Town, Renhuai City in Guizhou Province, is the origin of national wine-Maotai wine, and the gate of the town is called “Guojiumen”.  It is located on the southeast bank of the Chishui River. Taking advantage of the unique climate, excellent water quanlity and suitable soil in Maotai Town, people brew Maotai wine by using distinctive brewing techniques and a series of complicated procedures. Nowadays, Maotai has been called “National Wine” in China.

The First Bottle Under Heaven（天下第一瓶）

The first bottle under heaven is the largest bottle-shaped physical modeling building in Renhuai City. It was made of armored concrete, 31.25 meters high, 10.2 meters in diameter, and 1469.33 cubic meters in volume. It can hold 2,938,660 bottles of Maotai wine in 500ml. Its appearance is the same as Maotai wine bottle, and its Flying Brand trademark pattern, text, and color are enlarged in the same proportion, from a distance, like a blooming red flower in the green leaves.

National Wine Cultural City（国酒文化城）

Located at the inner of the Maotai Distillery, Renhuai City, the National Wine Cultural City covers an area of more than 30,000 square meters. It has seven exhibition halls such as Han, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing dynasties and modern times. It also collected more than 5,000 plaques, paintings and works of cultural relics, which systematically introduced the development process of Chinese wine industry in the past dynasties and the allusions related to politics, economy, culture and folk customs in Chinese history. It condenses the brilliance and essence of China’s five thousand years of wine culture, and reflects the development course of Maotai Wine. In addition, this museum was named as “the world’s largest wine cultural center” in Guinness of the Great World in Shanghai in 1999.

Maotai Climate 

Maotai Town is warm in winter, hot in summer and little rain with an average annual temperature of 17.4 ℃. The highest temperature in summer is 40 ℃, and the hot season is as long as half a year. The frost-free period in winter is long, the temperature difference is small, and the average annual frost-free period is up to 359 days. The annual rainfall is only 800-900 millimeters. The sunshine time is the high-value area in Guizhou province, which can reach 1400 hours per year. The weather conditions of hot, less wind and high temperatures make the microbial community easy to grow here and not easy to be blown away. The special climate of low wind speed, warm winter, hot summer, less rain, and less wind is very beneficial to the habitat and reproduction of microorganisms in the brewing process of Maotai wine.

Maotai Specialty

Maotai Wine: It is a Chinese liquor or baijiu. It is produced in the town of Maotai (茅台镇), in the city of Renhuai, Guizhou province, Southwest China. It is believed that the town of Maotai possesses a unique climate and vegetation that contributes to the taste of the drink. Chinese Moutai, Scotch whiskey and French brandy are known as “the world’s three famous wine”. It originated in the Han Dynasty which was over 2,000 years from now. In 1915 Panama World Exposition, Moutai was awarded Gold Medal and it has become famous worldwide ever since. Besides meeting the domestic demands, Moutai is also exported to many countries in the world. Moutai is famous for the features like being clear and transparent in color, being smooth, fresh and cool in taste and its long-lasting fragrance.Taking advantage of the unique climate, excellent water quality and suitable soil in Maotai Town, people brew Moutai wine by using distinctive brewing techniques and a series of complicated procedures. Now, Moutai is called the national wine in China.

How to Get There

You can take the coach to the Maotai tourist attractions. There are three recommended routes as follows:

  • Guiyang Jinyang passenger Station and Zunyi Zhongzhuang passenger Station have a bus to Renhuai every 30 minutes, a 3.5-hour ride, a fare of 85 yuan.
  • Zunyi have a bus to RenHuai, 1.5-hour ride, and a fare of 40 yuan.
  • Xishui have a bus to Renhuai, 1.5 hours per shift, and about 2.5 hours in the whole journey. Ticket price is about 20 to 30 yuan, depending on the model.

Out of Renhuai bus station, there is a full ride and bus to Maotai Town outside the right Jiudu Hotel, about 15 minutes by car, and the fare is 5 yuan.

Accommodation in Maotai

  • Renhuai Maotai International Hotel: Located in Renhuai City Maotai Town riverside avenue, the hotel is a total area of 100,000 square meters, a construction area of 66,000 square meters. There are 275 guest rooms and more than 1,000 dining places. It is a comprehensive hotel with the collection of housing, catering, meetings, recreation, recreation.

  • Renhuai Yangliu Bay Hotel:  Located on the bank of the Chishui River in Maotai Town, Renhuai City, which integrates wine culture, long March culture, and ancient salt culture. The hotel is close to some famous tourist attractions such as Moutai 1915 Square, the Red Army Sidu Chishui Monument Tower and so no . It takes ten minutes’ drive to get to Renhuai City. It is very convenient to travel.

Useful Travel Tips

When you go to Maotai town, you must taste the authentic Maotai wine, or else you have never been to Maotai. But there are a lot of fake Maotai wines on the market, so you must be very cautious and avoid to be deceived. Besides, the weather in Maotai town is a little hot during the summer day, so if you are ready to travel here in summer, please take good precautions against sunburn, you can carry the sunblock and shades or wear the protective clothing to reduce the harmful effects of the sun.

Nearby Attractions

Main Attractions in Guizhou

Edited by  Lynette Fu/付云锐