18 | Tuesday, November 24, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY LIFE Seller to cellar, a glass of wine still has a lot of fizz and sparkle

Wine may be fine, but it has nev­ tells me that the overall wine mar­ perceived in China. Wine played the and not as harsh as other spirits, ferred choices in China. Red wine is steps up its globalization efforts. er been my favorite tipple or topic ket in India is roughly about 1 mil­ role of a social indicator in the old­ said Tommy Keeling, research undoubtedly the market leader in Viticulture, or the growing of wine of discussion unlike several of my lion cases or about $31.6 million a en days and was considered as director for Asia­Pacific at Interna­ China and the best­selling due to grapes, is another sector that has peers. Over the years I have attend­ year and growing by about 25 per­ “expensive and prestigious”, says tional Wines and Spirits Record, a cultural traditions and the “health seen considerable growth in China ed several functions, but by and cent annually. There are already the report. It was more of a mascu­ market research firm that focuses benefits associated with it”, said in recent years, especially in the large stayed away Indian companies, which have line drink and consumed largely in on the liquor industry, during a Keeling. Ningxia Hui autonomous region. from wines. A lot of it come out with brands that are gain­ the north of the country. But all of recent webinar. “High­end wine products have Investors such as LVHM (Moet and had to do with my ing consumer acceptance, he said. that has changed and wine is now The Chinese drink 1.46 billion not been faring well due to the Chandon) and Domaines Barons limited exposure to Aside of the advantage of drink­ available throughout the country liters of wine every year or a little COVID­19 epidemic as people are Rothschild Lafite have invested the beverage and the ing it when you can, wine is also and has a new clientele: women more than one liter per capita, keeping away from luxury items heavily in China and are developing hype attached to it, seen as an excellent investment. and young adults. Throw the according to a study by Vinexpo, an due to the diminishing role of social their own vineyards in the country, be it the right way of Owning a collection of vintage wine emerging middle class into the mix organizer of international trade gatherings during lockdowns,” he they said. Ullattil drinking it or the is equivalent to owning a Rolls­Roy­ and with a consumption growth fairs. China is ranked fifth in the said. In addition, Chinese consum­ Despite the market enjoying a Manranjith pairings it had with ce, a Picasso or Van Gogh collection, rate of 18.5 percent, you have a con­ world, behind the United States, ers have started becoming more positive run in the past few years, Second each type of food. said Ashok. But what really turned stantly growing segment which is France, Italy and Germany in terms health conscious and they prefer to this year has been harsh and chal­ Thoughts But one thing that my eyes was when he said that Chi­ riding the higher purchasing power of consumption. The country drink less and more mindfully. Red lenging for the industry. Though I have realized is na is emerging as a force to reckon wave. imported 690 million liters of for­ wine in particular has long been there were logistics issues due to wine is a multimillion dollar indus­ with in the global wine market. Wine is becoming popular eign wines in 2018 and is on track to seen as a “healthier” drink than the epidemic, online sales channels try globally and nowhere is it grow­ Confirmation to that claim came among young Chinese people as be the second largest wine consum­ hard spirits in China, despite the were able to cover most of the vol­ ing as strongly as in countries like soon in the form of a report from they think it is cool, sophisticated, er by 2021, says the Vinexpo study. latter being more popular, said ume losses in the on­trade, said China and India. My friend K. V. Daxue Consulting, a Beijing­based and quite unlike the beverages that So which segment is fueling this Keeling. Keeling. Ashok, a hospitality industry veter­ market research company, which their parents used to drink. Wine is growth, one may tend to ask, espe­ According to experts, the Chinese an from the southern Indian city of indicates that there has been a sea finding acceptance with female cially as fruity, flavored white and thirst for white wines could Contact the writer at Chennai and an avid wine lover, change in the way wine is being drinkers as it is not as filling as beer sparkling wines are among the pre­ increase in the coming years as it [email protected] Candid camera: Rain dance Camels, horses, drones help protect heritage sites

HOHHOT — Herder Siqinbat in Alshaa Left Banner, North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region, spends half of his time, With the reinforced weather permitting, on a camel’s patrols, we have back patrolling relic sites scattered in desert areas. strengthened the After a sandstorm ebbed on cultural relics Tuesday, the part­time relic conser­ protection and vator checked a beacon tower built about 800 years ago, dating back to accumulated the Western Xia Dynasty (1038­ experience for the 1227). “The wind and sand slashed so conservation in hard. I did not sleep well. I went sparsely populated out to the beacon tower at dawn,” he says. areas.” It took Siqinbat an hour and a Chen Yongzhi, director, Inner half on a camel’s back from his Mongolia Administration of home to the relic site. Cultural Heritage The county­level Alshaa Left Banner has 40 percent of its land covered by desert, where vehicles tural heritage sites scattered over often get stuck in sand. 1.18 million square km of land in The county has more than 200 Inner Mongolia. The relic sites also cultural heritage sites, including include 7,570­km­long sections of sections of the Han Dynasty (206 the Great Wall, which makes up 35 BC­AD 220) Great Wall and percent of the total length of the ancient tombs. Most of them are Great Wall in the country. located in scarcely populated are­ To better protect such cultural as, where the harsh environment heritage, the local governments makes cultural preservation diffi­ have introduced hump and horse­ cult. back patrol teams as well as The county government has set unmanned aerial vehicle patrols in With spectators pouring water on participants, a “water dragon” dance is performed in Zhouzi in Peng’an Online up a camel or hump patrol team, the vast land. county, Sichuan province, on Wednesday. Wearing a willow­twig crown on their heads, dancers maneu­ Scan the QR code for recruiting camel­raising herders There are 13 horseback cultural ver the “dragon” made of branches. Stretching back more than 1,000 years, the dance was originally held subscription or to get a like Siqinbat to help protect the rel­ protection teams composed of 179 as an offering for a good harvest, but is a spectacular show for tourists today. WANG ZEMING / FOR CHINA DAILY copy of today’s paper. ics. Over the past five years, their cavalries patrolling heritage sites patrols have helped prevent on the Xiliin Gol Grassland. numerous activities harmful to rel­ According to the Xiliin Gol cul­ ic protection, such as illegal min­ tural relics department, since 2011, ing near the ancient Great Wall the patrol teams have helped the sections and the cultural ruins. local police uncover dozens of ille­ New musical delivers tribute to unsung heroes So far, 41 herders have joined the gal acts such as destroying cultural patrol team. Each of them oversees relics and robbing ancient tombs, By CHENG YUEZHU an area of 3,000 square kilometers. retrieving more than 300 stolen [email protected] Under Siqinbat’s spectrum of relics and arresting more than 10 duty, there are seven relic sites. suspects. A musical will soon put the spot­ From the courier Every time he visits these heritage Tumen, a patrol team member in light on couriers, a group of unsung industry we can see sites, he takes photos and reports Zhengxiangbai Banner, Xiliin Gol heroes, who dash here to there, to via WeChat to the team’s supervi­ League, reported suspicious holes make people’s lives more conve­ the rapid sors with the local cultural depart­ dug in his meadow to the police in nient. development of our ment. 2013. Following the clues of tomb Adapted from the eponymous TV Siqinbat’s family contracts about raiders’ activities, a tomb dating series, the musical On the Road cen­ era ... progress of the 800 hectares of grassland and back to the Northern Wei Dynasty ters on Yao Yuan, a courier at a pri­ Chinese economy keeps a stock of 100­plus camels. (386­534) was discovered and then vate delivery company, who built his The family income mainly listed on the New Archaeological own express delivery and e­com­ and society, and the depends on the government’s graz­ Discoveries in China in 2014. merce business. drastic changes in ing ban subsidies and selling camel Drones have been adopted since By zooming in on the story of an milk, which earns about 200,000 2019 in all 103 banners, counties individual, the musical aims to por­ people’s living yuan ($30,460) a year. and districts of Inner Mongolia to tray the hard work of a generation of standards.” The 39­year­old herder says he carry out inspections on cultural young people, and reveal changes in joined the cultural protection team relics in the fields. musical producer Chinese society in the past 20 years. Dong Ning, out of his own interest. At first, he “With the reinforced patrols, we A livestreamed briefing for the thought the relic sites were myste­ have strengthened the cultural rel­ musical On the Road was held on Singer Ayanga (center) performs at a livestreamed news conference ed their most precious ticket, the rious, and through the work, he ics protection and accumulated Nov 13 at the Cultural Palace of for the musical On the Road in Beijing on Nov 13. central seat in the first row, with sig­ has learned a lot of historical sto­ experience for the conservation in Nationalities in Beijing, where the PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY natures from the cast, to Yang Jing­ ries about their heritage and found sparsely populated areas,” says cast gave a sneak peek of the musi­ shan, who has recently been them fascinating. Chen Yongzhi, director of Inner cal by performing three songs. awarded Beijing’s “most honorable “Now I want to protect these cul­ Mongolia Administration of Cul­ Produced by Beijing Performance “From the courier industry we composition. This for me is a very courier”, for forming a volunteer tural relics so that future genera­ tural Heritage. and Arts Group and performed by can see the rapid development of good learning opportunity and a group and bringing supplies to tions can see them,” he says. the Beijing Dance Drama and Opera our era, the tremendous progress of huge breakthrough. Guided by so those in need. There are 21,099 immovable cul­ XINHUA troupe, the musical is due to pre­ the Chinese economy and society, many masters, I feel in the future I Yang said he is very much looking miere in Beijing on Dec 24 and tour and the drastic changes in people’s will have more space to create and forward to attending the musical, in Shanghai and Guangzhou, capital living standards,” said Dong Ning, be bold,” Ayanga said. particular to seeing how the musi­ of Guangdong province, early next chief producer of the musical. “With music, I wish to convey to cal presents the work of couriers, year. “Couriers are the guardians and the audience the spirit of coura­ who shuttle through the streets and “We are committed to producing creators of our happy lives. We are geousness and fearlessness, and to deliver the packages to customers works of our own culture,’’ director proud of them and therefore chose bring hope to all those who are striv­ without delay. of the musical Xiao Jie said. “Just to dedicate our stage to the behind­ ing to make their dream come true.” To get to know the work of couri­ like in this production, we are tak­ the­scenes heroes around us.” To stage the show, the cast has ers in detail, the crew will randomly ing Yao Yuan as the symbol of a The protagonist stars musical been investigating the logistics select three ticket­buyers in Beijing, group, to present the emotional performer Ayanga, who for the first industry and the work involved in and the performers will deliver the pursuit and expression of the time participated in the composi­ express delivery on the spot. tickets in person. numerous ordinary and unsung tion process along with Peter Kam While the general impression of Apart from theater performances, people.” Pui­tat from Hong Kong, also the express delivery is individual people this production will also work with According to a 2019 report from production’s music director, and riding an electric tricycle and deliv­ streaming platforms to bring musi­ China Post and Express News, the Zhang Xiaozhen. Ayanga’s composi­ ering packages in person, Ayanga cal lovers an all­round experience, number of couriers in China has tions include the musical’s signa­ said, he was amazed by the cutting­ by launching webcast events and an Relics at the site of an ancient hunting ground, dating back about increased by 50 percent from 2016 ture track hechu shi yuanfang edge technology after visiting the online version incorporating per­ 3,000­5,000 years, intrigue travelers in Alshaa Right Banner, to 2018, and the total number of (“where is the far side”). factories. formances and the backstage Inner Mongolia autonomous region, in May. couriers has exceeded 3 million. “I am a newcomer in musical During the briefing, the crew gift­ scenes. WANG ZHENG / FOR CHINA DAILY