Old Longkou Liquor Museum

Old Longkou Liquor Museum

Old Longkou Liquor Museum

Shenyang is located in the central part of the Liaohe River Basin, east of Tianzhu Mountain, on the north bank of the Hun River. As early as 7,200 years ago, on the north side of the canal where the North Old Longkou Liquor Museum

stands, the Xinle people lived and thrived. Known as the “birthplace of a dynasty and the palace of two emperors,” Shenyang (formerly called Shengjing) became the capital of the Qing Dynasty. Later, with large-scale construction and a surge in population, handicrafts and commerce developed rapidly, propelling it to become the foremost town in the northeast and forming a center of commerce and politics.

According to historical records, “Old Longkou” is one of the earliest existing national industries in Shenyang. Established in 1662, the first year of the Kangxi reign in the Qing Dynasty, it has a long history of 343 years. It earned the name “Old Longkou” because it was located at the eastern entrance of Longcheng, the secondary capital of the Qing Dynasty at the time. The distillery has an ancient well, blessed by its location over the spiritual veins of the Changbai Mountain range, known as the “Dragon Pool Water.” The water is clear, sweet, and ideal for brewing. The liquor produced here was often presented as tribute to the imperial court and the army, earning the reputation of “Tribute Liquor of the Qing Dynasty.” There is a saying that goes, “Flying cups once stirred the bravery of the Eight Banners,” and it was the production site of the tribute liquor for five Qing emperors—Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, and Daoguang—during their 12 eastern tours to Shengjing.

The Old Longkou Liquor Museum is located at No. 1 Zhulin Road, Dadong District, Shenyang. It is not only a key transportation route leading from the eastern gate of Shenyang to Fushun, Siping, and Jilin, but also a necessary passage to the Qing Fu Mausoleum, the Botanical Garden, the 2006 International Horticultural Exposition, and the Qipanshan Scenic Area. With a public bus stop nearby, the site enjoys convenient transport and a prime location.

After more than 300 years of changes, “Old Longkou” has now developed into a large-scale liquor brewing enterprise with significant production capacity, strong economic power, and high technological standards. The company’s product line currently includes four major series—liquor, nutritional tonic wine, fruit wine, and cooking-flavor liquor—with over 80 varieties. Its products have passed the ISO9001 international quality system certification. Among them, “Old Longkou” Aged Liquor ranks first among “Liaoning Famous Liquors,” and many products have won various honors at domestic and international liquor expos. The products are not only popular throughout the province and beyond, but are also exported to countries such as South Korea, North Korea, and Japan. In October 2000, Shenyang Old Longkou Distillery and Singapore’s T&C Company jointly established “Shenyang Tianjiang Old Longkou Brewing Co., Ltd.,” becoming the first joint venture in China’s liquor industry dedicated to liquor production.

In 2002, with the support of the municipal government and relevant departments, Old Longkou funded the construction of the first liquor culture museum in Northeast China—the Old Longkou Liquor Museum—which officially opened to domestic and international visitors on October 9 of the same year.

The museum adopts the architectural style of Qing Dynasty buildings, with a total construction area of 1,200 square meters (exhibition area: 999 square meters, tavern area: 201 square meters). The parking lot covers 1,000 square meters, and the total site area is 2,200 square meters. The facade design is inspired by Qing Dynasty archways, flanked by simple flush-gable and rolled-roof auxiliary buildings. The roof is covered with green tiles, the exterior walls are built with blue bricks, and wooden structures such as beams, columns, and doors/windows are hand-painted or varnished. The overall architecture centers around the museum, with Qing Dynasty-style taverns and distilleries on both sides, creating a platform for showcasing Chinese liquor culture and achieving an organic integration of theory and practice.

The museum is divided into two main sections: the “Liquor Culture Exhibition Area” and the “Traditional Liquor Workshop Exhibition Area.” The “Liquor Culture Exhibition Area” includes six parts: “The Origins of Liquor,” “Liquor Customs and Etiquette,” “Liquor Utensils,” “Liquor Poetry and Paintings,” “The History of Old Longkou,” and “Exhibition Room of Vintage Products.” It houses over 40 sets of liquor utensils, more than 50 works of calligraphy and paintings by notable figures, over 200 old trademarks from different periods of the 20th century, over 300 vintage bottles, trophies and certificates awarded to some of Old Longkou’s products, and fragments of a late 19th-century liquor storage vessel known as a “wine sea.” The “Traditional Liquor Workshop Exhibition Area” vividly recreates the traditional Chinese liquor-making process, displaying a variety of tools used in ancient brewing methods, the raw materials required for brewing, a group of century-old stone mills unearthed on-site, and some vintage products from Old Longkou between the 1950s and 1980s. Currently, the aging and packaging workshop is being renovated, and once completed, it will be able to accommodate thousands of visitors for tours simultaneously.

“Old Longkou” is Shenyang’s oldest and most storied liquor brand, boasting treasures such as century-old brands, century-old fermentation pits, and century-old stone millstones. In 2004, an evaluation by Beijing North Asia Appraisal Company assessed the trademark and goodwill value of “Old Longkou” at 150 million yuan. In August 2005, Old Longkou applied to the national authorities for intangible cultural heritage protection for the “Traditional Brewing Process of Old Longkou Liquor,” which was approved by the relevant provincial departments.