Breaking 'barrels' and glass ceilings

Shi Feng, a determined female distiller, challenges gender norms by mastering the craft of distillation and progressing from apprentice to workshop director.

At a workshop of the Yellow Crane Tower Distillery in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, numerous large steel barrels are filled with fermented sorghum mash — the essential ingredient for producing baijiu, a Chinese spirit. Next to these barrels, giant steamers and pipes aid in the distillation process, transforming the grain into liquor, which is then stored for aging.

At 30 years old, Shi Feng possesses the ability to tell the moisture content of sorghum simply by squeezing it, with an accuracy margin of less than 1 percent. By handling the mash, she precisely assesses the temperature within a deviation of just one degree. After distillation, she can also determine the alcohol content by observing the size, dissipation rate, uniformity, and longevity of the baijiu's bubbles.

It took Shi five years to master these skills. Joining the distillery in 2016 after graduating from university, she started her journey from the ground up, eventually rising to become workshop director by 2021.

Proficient in every aspect of the brewing process, she supervises the entire production workflow. Among the 36 employees in the workshop, Shi is the only female distiller and the youngest, yet she now serves as a mentor to all the other distillers.

Historically, distillation was considered a "man's job". "Distilling was once physically demanding, so women were not typically involved," Shi explained. "However, with technological advancements, more women now participate in the craft. But still, female distillers are rare."

Every morning, distillers must inspect each step of the brewing process to ensure everything follows the set standards. Shi walks over 20,000 steps daily in the workshop's high-temperature environment. On one occasion, she even fainted while working because she was too busy to eat breakfast.