Xishui County is a county in the north of Guizhou province, China, bordering Sichuan province to the southwest. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Zunyi.
Baijiu, or shaojiu (烧酒/燒酒), is a colorless Chinese liquor typically coming in between 35% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). Each type of baijiu uses its own type of qū for fermentation to create a distinct and characteristic flavor profile.
A Guojiao distillery, featuring apparatus for traditional baijiu distillation.
Shuijing Fang (水井坊) distillery remains in Chengdu, Sichuan. Each baijiu distillery has its own qu which contains a specific microbiome that would develop their branded flavor profile. The troughs in which qu is cultured are traditionally an inseparable part of the distillery.
A bottle of Maotai (Moutai) produced in 1998 has an estimated price range of HK$195,000–293,000 (US$25,000–37,600) in an auction in Hong Kong in 2017.