An Education in Drinking: Baijiu College seeks to elevate hard liquor to the world stage

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Baijiu, or white alcohol, is highly synonymous with Chinese culture. The country's liquor-making industry goes back centuries, but Baijiu isn't so well known outside China. Now a college in Sichuan Province has decided it's time to change all that, and give people a proper education in Baijiu drinking. CGTN's Wei Lynn Tang reports.

Living for the moment, taking in this Baijiu sample in all its glory. Students smell and sip this Baijiu, evaluating its aroma, taste, and form. Fret not about getting tipsy, they can spit out the liquor and move on to the next one. This is one of many classes at China's very first sommelier training course. Interestingly, almost 90 percent of the students here are female.

WU HUAN, UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT SICHUAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & ENGINEERING "My grandpa used to drink it every day ever since I was a little girl, so I am used to it and I fell in love with the flavor of the liquor."

QUAN ZHENYAO, UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT SICHUAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & ENGINEERING "We think the international market for baijiu is promising, it's like creating a new career in Chinese and we want to do something for our nation."

Nestled in the misty mountainous city of Yibin in China's Sichuan province, the sommelier class is the latest addition to Baijiu College at Sichuan University of Science and Engineering.

This director tells me that Baijiu is not widely consumed internationally, despite being well-recognised and backed by thousands of years of history in China. He cited poor promotion and marketing of the liquor and what led to the creation of this sommelier class. Statistics show that of the between 11 to 17 billion liters of Baijiu produced in China each year, less than 0.1 percent is exported.

LUO HUIBO, DEAN, DEPARTMENT OF BIOENGINEERING SICHUAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & ENGINEERING "As China becomes more internationalized, we, in turn, want to share one of our best national products with the world. And whether or not students here end up working in this industry after they graduate, depends on the industry's future development."

The school has implemented new innovations, like virtual reality technology to simulate the entire Baijiu making process, from mixing the bacteria and enzymes, to brewing the liquor itself, all hand-made. The college has also attracted overseas students.

ELISA GASHONGORE, POSTGRADUATE STUDENT FROM RWANDA SICHUAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & ENGINEERING "When I graduate, I think I will get an opportunity to work with this industry."

ENKHBOLD BATZORIG, POSTGRADUATE STUDENT FROM MONGOLIA SICHUAN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & ENGINEERING "I want to learn the brewing processes to help my homeland develop its own liquor making industry."

WEI LYNN TANG YIBIN CITY, SICHUAN PROVINCE "Crash course. I have in hand a Baijiu sample. I've been told that the first step to assessing if it's of good quality is to observe its colour, to ensure it's transparent, crystal clear with no suspended particles. The second step would be to smell it, we should be looking out for something flowery. Third step is to swirl it, and finally, to taste it."

To Wuhuan, just like tea and silk, Baijiu is a carrier of the Chinese culture. She hopes that Baijiu will make its mark at the international stage, just like vodka, whiskey and sake.

And these students believe they have a role to play in promoting Chinese Baijiu to the rest of the world. WLT, CGTN, Yibin City in Sichuan province.