The 2020 Ji'an ice wine festival kicks off at Ji'an city in Tonghua, an administrative city in Northeast China's Jilin province, on Dec 8. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The opening ceremony for the 2020 Ji'an ice wine festival was held on Dec 8 at Ji'an city in Tonghua, a city in Northeast China's Jilin province.

The event aims to promote cultural exchanges, lubricated by the now renowned ice wine.

At the opening ceremony, Ji'an grape-producing area was announced to have been approved as a China advantage area for characteristic agricultural products. The regional brand for the Ji'an mountain grape was also unveiled at the ceremony.

At the same time, the Tonghua municipal government signed a wine research and development project agreement with China Agricultural University. In addition, a grape variety cultivation project agreement was signed between Ji'an government and Institute of Special Animal and Plant Science at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

 

The grapes and climate in Ji'an are perfect for producing ice wine. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

After the signing ceremony, a wine tasting took place.

Ji'an is the hometown and largest production center for mountain grapes in China. The grape has been planted for more than 40 years and there is now an area of 20,000 mu (1,333 hectares) under cultivation, with an annual yield of about 20,000 metric tons.

At present, the red grape produced in Ji'an is the only grape variety in the world suitable for making red ice wine.