It's sunrise for a hot Latin spirit

A Mexican farmer cuts down the external leaves of blue agave plants.[Photo by Maxime Lu/China Daily]

The scant knowledge in China about Tequila may amount to no more than a few drops in a cocktail such as a margarita and all its variations. Even among those who have drunk more than a few tequilas in any form, few would be aware of the blue agave, the plant native to Mexico that gives the drink its taste.

To fill those gaps, over the past two years the CNIT and the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture have been doing promotional work in China.

The root of the campaign is a Chinese government policy that has opened the country to high-quality tequila. It was announced in 2013 when President Xi Jinping visited Mexico: The abolition of a ban on imports of 100 percent blue-agave tequila. To that point tequilas sold in China were mixed, and agave juice accounted for more than 51 percent, with the rest coming from other sources.

That change and the campaign to cash in on it may have contributed to the sales performance of tequila in the first 11 months of this year, China having climbed three places in the ranking of national importers of the drink to 19th, with imports of about 529,000 liters.

The US remained the main importer, accounting for about 80 percent of the total, followed by Spain, France and Germany.

Esteban Zottele from Argentina, who lived in Mexico for 10 years, now runs a Mexican restaurant called Xalapa in Beijing. He attributes tequila's growing popularity in China partly to its similarities to the Chinese spirit baijiu.

"They look similar, although tequila is not as strong, and is good for your health."

Chinese particularly like margaritas, tequila sunrises and also margaritas in which a bottle of the Mexican beer Corona is placed, top down.

Marcus Medina, chef and co-founder of the Mexican restaurant Q Mex Bar and Grill in Beijing, says the growing popularity of tequila in China coincides with the opening of ever more Mexican restaurants in the country.

Medina says that when he arrived in Beijing about four years ago, there were probably only 10 Mexican restaurants at most in the city. Now there are more than 25.

"Even in American restaurants and Western bars, margarita will always be there," he says.

Q Mex claims to have the largest selection of tequila brands of any bars and restaurants in Beijing. They range from Jose Cuervo, one of the most common brands, to very obscure names, all of which range greatly in quality.