Sweet Fireland's Intoxicating Journey (Complete Self-Guided Travel Guide to Turpan, Xinjiang)

Author: Tie Mei
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Publishing Time: Not available
Features: During the Tang Dynasty, wine had a significant influence in the inland regions. The grape cultivation and winemaking techniques learned from Gaochang likely persisted for a long period in the Tang era, as evidenced by the frequent appearance of wine in many Tang poems. Wang Han's famous poem "Cool State Ode" includes the renowned lines: "Grape wine in night-glow cups, pipa calls for drinking on horseback." Liu Yuxi also wrote poems praising wine, saying, "I am originally from Jin, planting grapes like planting jade, brewing it into fine wine, enough to drink all day long." Poets like Bai Juyi and Li Bai also composed verses admiring grape wine. At that time, the Hu people opened taverns in Chang'an to sell wine from the Western Regions. This is reflected in the line: "Treading on fallen flowers, where else to go? Laughing, I enter the tavern of the Hu maiden." The wine culture and drinking customs of Turpan are equally ancient. Ancient texts record that the people of Turpan "enjoyed drinking and had a high tolerance." Even today, their traditional winemaking methods are still used in the folk. The grape wine brewed by the people of Turpan using traditional methods is called "Museli." It is a popular beverage among the Uyghur people, regarded as nectar. Its production method is also quite unique. This drink is entirely made from fresh grapes, resulting in a juice similar to wine. After picking the fresh grapes, they are placed on a clean cutting board, spread out, and beaten with washed desert broom leaves, leaving only the thorns. The grapes are tapped with the thorns, so that the skins and seeds remain on the board while the juice flows into a pot. Then, it is filtered with cloth and poured into a pot for simmering. Ten kilograms of grape juice are added to twenty kilograms of water and slowly simmered over low heat until it becomes ten kilograms of juice. After simmering, it is poured into a clean jar, covered, and placed in a sunny spot to ferment, taking about 40 days to complete. During fermentation, it produces a bubbling sound like water boiling, and when it becomes completely quiet, it indicates that the brewing is finished.