Beijing Hongxing Co. Ltd ( chino :北京红星股份有限公司), comúnmente conocida como "Hongxing" ( chino :红星; iluminado. 'Estrella Roja') es una destilería de baijiu en Beijing, China . La destilería es mejor conocida por producir un erguotou baijiu icónico y de bajo costo , una variedad de baijiu qingxiang (清香; "aroma ligero"), que es el baijiu más popular que se vende en la capital china. [1]
El origen del erguotou se remonta a 1680 cuando los tres hermanos Zhou, como jefes de la destilería Yuanshenghao, desarrollaron la técnica tras observar que como condensador del alambique necesitaba enfriamiento, era el producto resultante de la segunda de tres ollas de enfriamiento. agua que produjo el mejor producto. Fue después de este proceso que el estilo recibió el nombre de "Er-Guo-Tou" (二锅头; "Second-Pot-Head"). [2]
During the Chinese Civil War the seeds of Beijing Hongxing were sewn when the People's Republic banned the private production and sale of liquor and implemented a state monopoly on production. In May of that year, the "North China Liquor Company" (later renamed Beijing Distillery) was founded, merging 12 distilleries in the region, become the first state owned distillery in the newly founded People's Republic, and becoming the sole legal producer of erguotou baijiu. The first batch of erguotou was produced in September and named Hong Xing (红星;"Red Star") in honor of the founding of the republic. The soon to be iconic label was designed by a Japanese Red Army enlistee named Sakurai.[3] Hongxing became one of the first trademarks registered in the nation in 1951 and demand for the drink only grew. In 1965, in an attempt to keep up with demand, and to keep prices low and accessible in accordance with the directions of then premier, Zhou Enlai Beijing Honxing took over management of 19 distilleries in the surrounding region where production of erguotou baijiu could be expanded into. Eventually, Beijing Hongxing relinquished the trademark for the exclusive use of the term "erguotou" in 1981. Throughout these years however, Beijing Hongxing retains the legacy of the Zhou brothers that had originally developed erguotou as Ai Jinzhong, the 9th generation descendent of the Zhou brothers serves as director of production.[4][5][6][7]
Today Beijing Hongxing continues to hold an iconic place in Chinese drinking culture and due to its low cost is seen as a popular working class spirit.[1]