Taibai Tower in the Lanling Wine Capital

Taibai Tower in the Lanling Wine Capital

Taibai Tower in the Lanling Wine Capital is a cultural tourism attraction.

Stepping through the classic-style gate of Shandong Lanling Meijiu, the first thing that catches your eye is the majestic and towering Taibai Tower. On the front wall of the tower is an inscribed couplet written by the renowned contemporary painter and calligrapher Fan Zeng, which reads “Lanling Wine, Unparalleled in China.” Upon entering Taibai Tower, you step into the Wine Culture Museum, where you can explore the history, present, and future of this sacred land of winemaking.

The second floor is an exhibition hall for enterprises, displaying a dazzling array of famous wines from around the world. The front display cabinets showcase samples and award certificates of dozens of products across four major series produced by the Lanling Wine Factory. Notably, the medal and certificate awarded to Lanling Wine at the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition — where it won a gold prize — are prominently displayed at the center of the exhibition hall, drawing special attention.

Ascending to the third-floor hall, a bronze statue of the great Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai stands upright on the front, capturing his poetic spirit as he raises a glass in the wind — a grand and powerful sight. Behind the statue hangs a famous calligraphy work by Shu Tong, featuring Li Bai’s poem “Drinking in a Foreign Land”: “Lanling wine, rich as tulips’ hue; / Served in jade cups, its amber gleams through. / If host can make the guest drunk with cheer, / Why care where lies my home so dear?” On the left wall of the exhibition hall is a plaque inscribed with the words “Fragrance of Lanling Wine” by the contemporary master calligrapher Li Duo, while on the right wall is another plaque inscribed with “Wine’s Fragrance Spreads Across the World” by the famous Japanese calligrapher Mr. Honda Kodo.

Walking out of the hall, you’ll find corridors winding around, offering a panoramic view of the entire Lanling Winery. To the north lies the production area, lined with workshops and rows of stately wine tanks, presenting an orderly and thriving scene of production. To the southeast is the enterprise’s sales area, and to the southwest is the staff residential zone. Gazing into the distance, you’ll see the large relief sculpture “Chronicles of Lanling” mounted on the towering wall of the grand auditorium, chronicling the long history and splendid culture of Lanling.

In front of and to the left of Taibai Tower is a stele corridor, in which dozens of large stone tablets are clearly displayed. These tablets record nearly 3,000 years of Lanling’s winemaking history, the development of the enterprise, and inscriptions by dozens of notable figures. Particularly noteworthy are the statues of Li Si, the Prime Minister of the Qin Dynasty, and Han Fei, a representative figure of Legalism, commemorating their studies under Xunzi in Lanling.

Taibai Tower is the symbol of the Lanling Wine Capital and a source of pride for the people of Lanling.

The Poet Immortal Li Bai (February 8, 701 – December 762), courtesy name Taibai, art name Qinglian Jushi (The Hermit of Green Lotus) or Zhexian Ren (The Banished Immortal), also known as Li Twelve, was a poet of the Tang Dynasty and is often mentioned alongside Du Fu as “Li-Du.” Li Bai’s collected works, The Collected Works of Li Taibai, have been passed down through generations. His representative works include “Quiet Night Thought,” “Drinking Alone Under the Moon,” and “Dream Journey to Tianmu Mountain: A Farewell Poem.” He brought ancient romanticist literature to new heights, excelling in the song-like poetry form (ge xing ti) and seven-character quatrains to levels rarely matched by later poets. Li Bai achieved the greatest acclaim in his yuefu poems, songs, and quatrains; his style is bold and unrestrained, fresh and graceful, rich in imagination, wondrous in artistic conception, marvelous in language, and romantic in spirit, with lofty ideals... More details about Li Bai ++