A new vintage for Ningxia

Pull back the curtains at the Anmo Hotel in Dulaan Winery Town, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, and rows of vineyards stretch toward the Helan Mountains, their green and purple hues catching the morning light.

For Zheng Zifeng, who grew up in Ningxia, the view brings back childhood memories of watching the sun rise and set over the mountains. Today, he sees in the familiar landscape the promise of a wine industry he hopes will thrive for generations.

Zheng is among a growing number of entrepreneurs and winemakers seeking to build a distinctive identity for Ningxia's wine industry, combining the region's natural advantages with new approaches to production, tourism and cultural engagement.

From Oct 12 to 16, Yinchuan, the regional capital, is hosting the 47th World Congress of Vine and Wine and the 24th General Assembly of the International Organisation of Vine and Wine. The city is also holding the sixth China (Ningxia) International Wine Culture and Tourism Expo from Oct 12 to 14.

It marks the first time the congress has been held in Asia, putting one of China's major wine-producing regions in the global spotlight.

As of 2025, Ningxia had more than 600,000 mu (40,000 hectares) of land dedicated to wine grape cultivation and development, 130 wineries and an annual wine bottling volume of 140 million bottles.

For Zheng, the region's potential was a powerful reason to return home. After studying architecture and urban planning in China and abroad and spending more than a decade working in cultural tourism, he returned to Ningxia in 2020, driven by a desire to see Chinese wine gain greater recognition on the world stage.

He saw enormous potential along the eastern foothills of the Helan Mountains, where abundant sunshine, a dry climate and sharp differences between daytime and nighttime temperatures create favorable conditions for growing wine grapes. Gravel-rich soils and irrigation water from the Yellow River add to the region's advantages.

"Ningxia possesses world-class terroir for winemaking, shaped by nature over thousands of years," said Zheng, chairman of Shanghai Zhicheng Investment Co Ltd and founder of Dulaan Winery Town, a wine and tourism resort established in Helan county in 2021.

"I have a deep respect for this land," he added. "Its terroir is unique and irreplaceable. What we're building isn't simply a project. There's a sense of mission behind it."

Rather than creating another destination centered solely on wine tasting, Zheng wanted visitors to spend more time experiencing Ningxia's landscape and culture.

At Dulaan Winery Town, he has brought together vineyards, art, outdoor recreation and hospitality. Visitors can stay at the Anmo Hotel, a luxury wilderness-style resort, cycle through vineyards, ride camels or explore the landscape on tractors adapted from vineyard machinery. They can also visit the nearby Xixia Imperial Tombs or gather around evening bonfires with mulled wine infused with local goji berries.

But for Zheng, attracting visitors is only part of the ambition. Building a wine industry with lasting appeal also means understanding what sets Ningxia's vineyards apart from those elsewhere.

Working with research teams from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Ningxia Academy of Agricultural Sciences, his team has been monitoring individual vineyard plots, tracking variations in sunlight, rainfall, temperature and soil composition.

"Even neighboring plots can vary considerably in their proportions of gravel and soil, making detailed observation important for understanding how different grape varieties perform," he said.

"Rather than replicating practices from established wine regions overseas, we want to adapt grape varieties and cultivation methods to Ningxia's conditions," he added.

Crafting new flavors

As vineyard operators work to understand Ningxia's distinctive growing conditions, winemakers are exploring how to express the region's character through their wines.

For Deng Zhongxiang, a winemaking consultant working with several wineries in the region, that search has opened the door to experimentation.

When Deng joined Ningxia's wine industry in 2012, only a handful of wineries were operational; most others were still in the planning stages or under construction.

Over the following decade, he watched local producers develop their own winemaking styles rather than follow established overseas models.

"Unlike established wine regions, we don't carry the same historical baggage," he said. "Experimentation isn't something new for us. It's part of our everyday work."

Sometimes, though, innovation comes from adversity.

In 2025, a hailstorm damaged red wine grapes during the ripening season. Rather than abandon the harvest, the winemaking team separated the grape juice from the skins and used a special process to produce a white wine. Unlike red wine, which gets its color largely from prolonged contact with grape skins, white wine can be made from red grapes by minimizing that contact.

Released in 2026, the resulting wine proved popular with winery visitors.

Other experiments have drawn on flavors familiar to Chinese consumers. At Heyu Winery, grapes have been combined with jasmine and oolong tea during fermentation, offering another way to create wines with a local character.

For Deng, these experiments reflect growing confidence among Ningxia's winemakers, who are increasingly developing their own styles rather than simply following established traditions.

Telling wine stories

As Ningxia's winemakers experiment with new styles, another challenge is emerging: how to introduce those wines — and the stories behind them — to a younger generation.

For Zhang Yanli of Fei Tswei Winery, the answer lies in storytelling.

"Traditional promotion, such as exhibitions, competitions, distributors and tasting events, mostly reaches people who already drink wine," she said. "But what about young people who know little about it? How can we reach them?"

Zhang believes wine is about more than what is in the glass. Every bottle tells a story of the people who grow the grapes, the changing seasons and the land where it is made.

That thinking inspired Fei Tswei Chronicle, an interactive narrative game that introduces players to winemaking through a journey across time.

Set in 2126, the game takes players back a century to a winery at the foot of the Helan Mountains, where they experience a full year of grape growing and winemaking.

Across 14 chapters inspired by China's 24 solar terms, players make choices that shape the story and lead to seven possible endings. Their decisions also generate personalized wine profiles, suggesting wines that may suit their tastes.

Interactive features introduce key winemaking concepts along the way.

Zhang said the game is expected to launch soon. Its development has brought together young professionals in scriptwriting, illustration, game design and computer science, giving them a chance to contribute to the wine industry beyond traditional production and marketing.

"Young people aren't just the future consumers of Chinese wine," Zhang said. "They're also the ones who will define its culture."

For Zhang, success does not necessarily mean turning every player into a customer.

"We hope to plant a seed in their minds," she said. "That China makes good wine, and that winemaking itself can be fascinating. Perhaps one day, when they want a glass of wine, they'll remember the Helan Mountains."

Contact the writers at guojiatong@i21st.cn