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Archeologists find the oldest known distillery in China
Baku, May 16 (AZERTAC). Recently, archeologists discovered the oldest distillery in the country. Even though now in ruin, boilers, water container and stone ovens indicate the scale and technology used in production.
Excavations took place in the Jilin province on the North-East of China. It was there where archeologists first found a number of peculiar aggregates in 2006. Those turned out to be ancient machinery for water distillation, without which the «tear of God»-«baytszyu» vodka- cannot be produced.
The discovered distillery was operational during the Liao dynasty, which ruled in the years 916-1125 AD, ITAR-TASS writes. «We believe this «machinery» to be the oldest in China and it is directly related to the ancient technique of producing alcoholic beverages in our country”, – Professor Feng Ensyue of the Jilin University states.
It is worth noting that during the rule of the Liao dynasty, nomads from nearby territories loved to gather in that region. And, as it always goes, no reunion would go without drinking a fair share of alcohol during festivities. Therefore, the demand for vodka dictated the need to produce it, which explains the location of the now discovered distillery.
The archeologists` discovery almost disproved the current theory, which is no less important, that the «baytszyu» production technique was allegedly brought to China in the 13th century from either India or Europe.