Build a Bordeaux in China

Speaking of the world's premier wine-producing regions, many would mention Bordeaux in France or Napa Valley in California.

But few know that a Chinese city, Wuwei, is determined to make itself a home for Chinese wine lovers and connoisseurs.

Let's follow Wu You to investigate this story.

In a remote suburb of Wuwei, a city located in northwest China's Gansu Province, Wang Runping is directing construction workers to put the finishing touches on a blue-grey European-style building.

Judging from the appearance, the purpose of this mansion may be confusing. But working as the vice president of a local winery, Wang explains that the building will be used as a wine museum for exhibition and wine tasting, as a project of crafting a "wine city".

"Our wine city is built on demand of Wuwei government, which is to vigorously develop the local wine industry."

With chateaus, vineyards, a manufacturing plant and tourist center, Wang says the wine city will be an industrial complex.

"A so-called 'wine city' should cover many domains, such as entertainment, production and trade, tourism, and plantation. These industries constitute a city. If we only make wine, our company is merely a winery. But you see, we get forum and museum, which would help to structure a city."

Wang's company is not the only one that built wine-related estates or bases in the town. Rolling along the roads, you could find green vineyards blanketing the land while western-style chateaus scattered the outskirts, which could foster an illusion of traveling in another country.

Gao Zhaoming is the vice president of a Shandong-based winery. According to him, although the company is thousands of miles away from Gansu Province, the management still chose Wuwei as its major manufacturing base, due to the city's natural conditions.

"In terms of geographic location, Wuwei is situated between 37 to 38 degrees north latitude, which is a prime location for wine making. It shares the same latitude with Bordeaux in France and its natural condition is even better than Bordeaux. Due to the desert climate here, without much rain, grape vines don't get diseases and need no pesticides. "

In the eyes of Zhang Aijiang, deputy major of the city, the wine industry in Wuwei is not only famed for its geographic and climatic advantages, but also the rich history.