HK Media's Guizhou Tour: 40,000-Workforce Drives Moutai's Development; Zhijindong Cave Crowned China's Finest

On the fourth day of the delegation's Guizhou tour (April 25), the members visited the globally renowned Moutai Liquor Factory and the national 5A-level tourist scenic spot, Zhijindong Cave.

The Moutai Chinese Liquor Culture City, a large-scale wine culture exposition area invested and built by Kweichow Moutai Group between 1993 and 1997, Photo by Bastille Post

The statues of Mr. Zhou Enlai and Mr. Charlie Chaplin in the scenic spot, Photo by Bastille Post

In the morning, the delegation visited the Moutai Liquor Factory and the Moutai Chinese Liquor Culture City, a large-scale wine culture exposition area invested and built by Kweichow Moutai Group between 1993 and 1997, to have a deep insight into the Group's liquor-making process. The Group is headquartered in the scenic Maotai Town, located on the banks of the Chishui River in northern Guizhou Province, while the headquarters sits at an average altitude of 423 meters and employs more than 40,000 people.

The Group traces its roots back to three historic distilleries in Maotai Town — "Chengyi", "Ronghe", and "Hengxing", each with over a century of brewing history.

Photo by Bastille Post

The development of Moutai, Photo by Bastille Post

With Kweichow Moutai Co., Ltd. as its core subsidiary, Kweichow Moutai Group focuses its development on three core pillars: Wine Industry, Wine-Tourism & Health Care, and Industrial Chain Finance. The Group now oversees 36 wholly-owned, holding, and joint-stock companies, with business interests spanning baijiu, health liquor, grape wine, securities, insurance, banking, cultural tourism, education, real estate, ecological agriculture, and baijiu-related upstream and downstream industries.

The introduction of the staff, Photo by Bastille Post

Mr. Zhou Enlai and Kweichow Moutai, Photo by Bastille Post

Its flagship product, Kweichow Moutai, is widely recognized as the originator and quintessential representative of China's sauce-flavor Daqu liquor. Its core production area covers 15.03 square kilometers. Kweichow Moutai holds the titles of "China's Geographical Indication Product", "China-EU Geographical Indication Product", and "Organic Food", and is also recognized as China's national intangible cultural heritage, making it a fragrant Chinese calling card that has spread its reputation across the world.

Special versions of Kweichow Moutai, Photo by Bastille Post

The display wall of Kweichow Moutai, Photo by Bastille Post

The reporter had the opportunity to taste Moutai ice cream firsthand. To describe the actual taste: it resembles the grape rum ice cream available in Hong Kong supermarkets, but without grapes, leaving a subtle hint of alcohol and sweetness on the palate. The Group's staff said the ice cream contains 3% Moutai liquor and comes in five flavors: original, chocolate, strawberry, matcha, and plum. A single scoop costs 39 RMB.

Photo by Bastille Post

The Moutai ice cream, Photo by Bastille Post

In the afternoon, the delegation toured the Zhijindong Cave UNESCO Global Geopark in Zhijin County, Bijie City, which is also Guizhou's first UNESCO Global Geopark and carries the reputation of being "China's most beautiful cave". Moreover, it's a National Scenic Area, National Geopark, National Natural Heritage, and National 5A-level Tourist Scenic Spot.

The Zhijindong Cave UNESCO Global Geopark, Photo by Bastille Post

The Zhijindong Cave UNESCO Global Geopark, Photo by Bastille Post

The reasons for Zhijindong Cave to earn a status of UNESCO Global Geopark are based on its unique geological heritage characteristics and extremely high aesthetic value. First, it contains the densest concentration of cave halls.

Photo by Bastille Post

Second, Zhijindong Cave features nearly every known type of karst deposits— stone walls, stalagmites, moon milk stones, rimstones, curling stones, cave flowers, flowstones, and more. It also boasts the widest variety of rare karst accumulations. Cave landscapes such as the Silver Rain Tree, Overlord's Helmet, Upside-Down Pipa, Grand Mural, and Twins Jade Tree are breathtakingly lifelike.

Photo by Bastille Post

According to the staff of the scenic spot, Zhijindong Cave can be called a place that will change one's view of what a cave can be, making visitors marvel that a cave could actually be outstandingly beautiful. Beyond the magnificent scenery of the cave, the Geopark also includes attractions such as dense sinkholes, natural bridges, and other geological landscapes. Moreover, the Wujiang River Source Gallery also offers a striking combination of gorges, high cliffs, and tranquil waters, featuring both aquatic and above-ground landscapes.

Photo by Bastille Post

The staff explained that most people have heard of the Chinese idiom "dripping water wears away stone". But the transformations inside the Zhijindong Cave could be better described as "dripping water builds stone" — as water droplets continuously contribute to karst growth.

The staff further noted that green plants have been observed growing on or above the surface of stalactites. These plants absorb moisture from the stalactites. Once the moisture is withdrawn, the stalactites will oxidize at a fast speed, leading to cracking and falling, a form of substantial damage instead of surface soiling. To combat this situation, the Geopark uses high-pressure water guns on a weekly basis to clean surfaces in key protected areas, curbing the effects of plant attachment and vegetation growth.

Photo by Bastille Post

The media delegation from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, on a "Retracing the Long March" reporting trip through Guizhou and Yunnan, visited Zunyi, including the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall and the Zunyi 1935 Street. In this revolutionary heartland, they traced the historic turning point of the Long March and witnessed how the "City of Turning Point" weaves its revolutionary heritage into the fabric of everyday life.

The Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall, Photo by Bastille Post

The Zunyi Conference was a meeting held in January 1935 when the Red Army passed through Zunyi, Guizhou, during the Long March. The meeting corrected "leftist" errors in military command and established the correct leadership with Mao Zedong.

The Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall, Photo by Bastille Post

Following the conference, under Mao Zedong's guidance, the Red Army employed flexible, mobile warfare, securing a series of major victories, including the second crossing of the Chishui River, the recapture of Loushan Pass, and the reoccupation of Zunyi. These successive triumphs gradually enabled the Red Army to break free from enemy encirclement and complete its strategic shift.

The Loushan Pass, Photo by Bastille Post

The Loushan Pass, Photo by Bastille Post

At the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall, faded photographs, wartime relics, and time‑worn manuscripts tell the stories of the legendary march. Visitors who linger over these exhibits can gain a vivid glimpse of the rugged terrain the Red Army once crossed, and sense the unwavering faith that carried them through.

The historical objects exhibited in the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall, Photo by Bastille Post

The historical objects exhibited in the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall, Photo by Bastille Post

Lei Guangren, former director of the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall, noted that the memorial is not a single building but a complex of sites. "In addition to the conference site itself, the former site of the National Bank and the residences of Li De, Bo Gu, Mao Zedong, and others, as well as the previous working sites of Deng Xiaoping and other key General Political Department staff have all been preserved and displayed in their original state," he said. He added that the memorial hall now receives over 10,000 visitors a day, around four to five million annually, making it a flagship destination for red tourism.

Mr. Lei Guangren, Photo by Bastille Post

Kong Xia, a volunteer guide at the memorial, is the granddaughter of Kong Xianquan — the site's first curator and a Red Army veteran. Her grandfather joined the Red Army in 1930 and fought in the anti-encirclement campaigns.

Ms. Kong Xia, Photo by Bastille Post

During the Second Battle of Loushan Pass, her grandfather was hit by six machine gun bullets in his right hip, leaving twelve bullet holes. Since his right leg was ten centimeters shorter than his left after recovery, people called him "Crippled Kong" or "Lame Kong."

After being wounded, Kong Xianquan recuperated in Guizhou and in 1952 began planning the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall. Kong Xia said that Deng Xiaoping, during his inspection of Zunyi, remarked, "Kong Xianquan is the most suitable person to be the curator."

The crowds in the Zunyi Conference Memorial Hall, Photo by Bastille Post

Although Kong Xia was not born in Zunyi, her life has been intimately intertwined with the city's revolutionary heritage. She recalls with a smile how her grandfather personally saw her father off to join the army, who later served in the Yunnan Air Force. She herself never expected to marry a soldier from the first peacekeeping unit of the General Staff Department, becoming a military wife. And her son, after graduating from Northeastern University, joined the PLA Rocket Force. Four generations of her family have carried forward the tradition of military service, spanning nearly a century.

Perhaps it is this revolutionary bloodline that gives her a special bond with Zunyi. She has lived near the memorial hall for fifty years, and for over thirty of those, she has served as a volunteer guide, telling visitors the stories of her grandfather and his Red Army comrades.

Kong Xia recalls that her grandfather rarely spoke of his own bravery, but would recount the Red Army's victories with great enthusiasm. Yet whenever he saw news of fallen comrades in the newspaper, he would sit on his bed for hours, pipe in hand, lost in thought, his eyes filled with grief. "What the elders feared was not the brutality of war," she said, "but the loss of their comrades, one by one."

The memorial hall now receives over 10,000 visitors a day, around four to five million annually, making it a flagship destination for red tourism. Photo by Bastille Post

Watching Zunyi transform from a small town with just two bus routes and a single bustling intersection into a modern city with hundreds of transport routes and numerous commercial zones, Kong Xia marvels at the changes: The city has grown; the buildings have risen. But Zunyi's spirit of "following the path of righteousness and striving constantly for self-improvement" together with its profound revolutionary spirit, remains unchanged.

Not far from the Zunyi Conference site lies the Zunyi 1935 Street, named after the year the conference took place. The street blends revolutionary culture with everyday life, featuring a revolutionary bookstore, intangible cultural heritage displays, and local northern Guizhou snacks. It connects the historic site with urban life, allowing visitors to step into the memory of those pivotal years, while strolling through the streets and savouring the local flavours.

The Zunyi 1935 Street, Photo by Bastille Post

The goods sold at the Zunyi 1935 Street, Photo by Bastille Post

The snacks sold at the Zunyi 1935 Street, Photo by Bastille Post

The revolutionary bookstore at the Zunyi 1935 Street, Photo by Bastille Post