金融時報:中國白酒：太難張口說愛你？

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2021年10月06日

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中國白酒：太難張口說愛你？

中國現(xiàn)在希望將白酒推向全球，除了走進酒吧作為基酒調(diào)制“荔枝馬提尼”、還聽說，品嘗優(yōu)質(zhì)白酒與聆聽世界級古典音樂……更配哦？

測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識：

litre公升['li?t?]

boardroom會議室['b??dru?m; -r?m]

ubiquitous普遍存在的；無所不在的[ju?'b?kw?t?s]

hangover宿醉；殘留物['h????v?]

frugality儉省，節(jié)儉[fru?'g?l?t?]

subsidy補貼；津貼['s?bs?d?]

Philharmonia Orchestra愛樂管弦樂團

patron贊助人；保護人；主顧['pe?tr(?)n]

virtuoso藝術(shù)大師[,v?t?u'oso]

cocktail雞尾酒；開味食品['k?kte?l]

mixologist酒吧調(diào)酒員[m?k's?l?d??st]

Baijiu: the people's tipple （579words）

By Christian Shepherd

Traditionally drunk straight, and in great volume, baijiu is China's national spirit: the country gets through an estimated 10-17 billion litres of the grain-based liquor every year. It is central to Chinese business deals, where the banquet table trumps the boardroom, and ubiquitous at formal dinners. It's sipped, according to toasting culture, whenever your superior asks. Calls of “Ganbei” — literally, “Dry your glass” — are common and hard to refuse.

Growing up in Beijing, I learnt about the spirit from my investor stepfather's tales of endless toasting at business banquets — and the terrible hangovers that followed. Once, after an evening with an aviation fuel company, he described the host's expensive baijiu as “bearing a distinct resemblance to his own products”.

Now China wants to take baijiu global. State-owned producers, boutique brands and large drinks corporations are all interested in the spirit's export potential. If tequila can do it, so the reasoning goes, why not baijiu?

The push to sell baijiu abroad is part of a transition in the domestic market. Through the boom years, baijiu's central role in business transactions saw sales surge with the economy. Managers of state-owned enterprises plied each other (and the relevant officials) with increasingly overpriced bottles — and billed it to the company.

But in 2012, President Xi Jinping launched a frugality campaign that banned lavish dinners and gift giving, thus cancelling the state's de facto subsidy of the industry and bringing soaring profits down to earth. Diversifying sales by moving into untapped western markets suddenly became an increasingly attractive idea.

However, with an industrial bouquet and a throat-choking 40-60 per cent alcohol content, baijiu is reviled by many foreigners who live in China. To popularise it outside of China requires imagination, not to say blind optimism.

Wuliangye, China's largest baijiu producer by volume, struck upon the novel approach of partnering with a London orchestra. About a year ago Liu Zhongguo, its chairman, signed a five-year sponsorship deal with the Philharmonia Orchestra as a way to “inspire people to enjoy the harmonious balance of drinking fabulous alcohol while listening to world-class classical music”. The ￡500,000 deal was signed at a Downing Street reception.

Jonathan Kuhles, who manages sponsorship for the Philharmonia, says: “Everyone [at the concerts] is very interested to try it … The longer we work with [Wuliangye], the more you get a taste for [baijiu] in a way you don't think you will originally.”

Patrons of the Philharmonia who came to hear Chinese piano virtuoso Lang Lang at the Royal Festival Hall in London last November were offered a taste of the spirit, while VIP gift bags reinforced the message. Yet samples at a reception may be insufficient to overcome the problem of differing national palates. One theory among China-dwelling foreigners is that it takes 300 shots to stop disliking baijiu. That's a lot of concerts.

In an effort to create a more stylish image, promoters of baijiu abroad are turning it into a bar drink. Baijiu-based cocktails can now be found on bar menus from Paris to Perth. For mixologist Orson Salicetti, co-founder of Lumos, a Manhattan bar specialising in the spirit, its powerful taste can be a good thing — it is the high alcohol content that is a problem. “The advantages of baijiu are the sweetness, rotting fruit and nutty sherry — you need to respect these notes,” he says. His creations use baijiu in different ways, from baijiu-infused lemongrass in his “l(fā)ychee martini” to mixing it with spiced almond milk in an almond cocktail.

請根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容，完成以下自測題目：

1.Where is better to talk business in China?

A.banquet table

B.boardroom

C.tea room

D.bureau

答案(1)

2.What is baijiu's role model on globalization?

A.fuel

B.concert

C.tequila

D.red wine