Reporters tour Yilan

Wine caves, cherry vinegar and Chairman Mao's personal photographer were on the itinerary on Sept 27 as a group of reporters were given the opportunity to explore the unique heritage of the remote but beautiful city of Yilan.

The small city of 409,000 people is located in the very farthest northeastern corner of China, less than 200 kilometers from the Russian border, and is famous throughout Heilongjiang province as a historical and cultural center.

The reporters' first stop was Heilongjiang Baishiguniang Food Co Ltd, a well-known local company that processes ground cherries to produce fruit wine, vinegar and candy.

Baishiguniang introduced the journalists to the company's 28,000-square-meter facility and its 267-hectare cherry plantation, and explained the company's plans to collaborate with local colleges and research institutes to develop its processing techniques and expand its current production capacity of 10,000 tons.

Next up was the enormous wine culture park established by Ruili Wine Company, which promotes Yilan's local culture and Chinese wine culture more generally.

The highlight of this trip was the park's huge wine cave that can store up to 8 million tons of wine at a time. The cave also featured statues of famous wine lovers in Chinese history and legends, such as the legendary inventor of fermented wine, Du Kang, and the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai, who wrote several odes to the joys of drinking wine.

The tour also included visits to Yilan county museum, the historical and cultural corridor and Lü Houmin photograph and art museum.

Yilan county museum is established in 1958 and built in 2000. The museum, which covers an area of 10,000 square meters, displays 4,236 pieces of cultural relics, of which 1,216 are classified as precious relics.

Yilan historical and cultural corridor was built in 2010 and has a length of 227 meters. There are historical scroll paintings and calligraphy inscriptions carved into the corridor.

The Lü Houmin photograph and art museum was built in 2013, and covers an area of 13,000 square meters. This museum displays both ethnic and exotic cultures.

Lü Houmin was a famous Chinese photographer, who worked as Chairman Mao's personal photographer for 12 years. He also captured the lives of other famous leaders, including Zhou Enlai and Liu Shaoqi.