MOFBA • Advertising History in China

This is how Shanghai's Nanking Road would have looked like, back in the day...

In 1972, US President Richard Nixon visited China. Little did he expect that a bottle of liquor from a remote town in southwestern China would leave such a lasting impression on him. The Chinese government therefore presented him with several bottles of Moutai (茅台) as a gift. After returning to the White House, Nixon eagerly showed his family a little trick he had learned from Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai (周恩来): setting Moutai on fire! But the performance got out of hand. The flames nearly started a fire in the White House, and Secret Service agents had to intervene. Had they been a little slower, Watergate might not have been the scandal that ended Nixon's presidency. If you've ever heard of Chinese baijiu, chances are you've heard of Moutai. In China's vast liquor market, Moutai enjoys a status that few brands can rival. Not only is it considered one of the country's finest spirits, but it also frequently appears at important business banquets and diplomatic receptions. It was even once widely referred to as China's "national liquor." Even more astonishing is its price. A newly produced 500-milliliter bottle of Moutai has recently sold for around 240 USD, while just a few years ago, prices soared past 400 USD a bottle. For several consecutive years, the market capitalization of Kweichow Moutai even exceeded the annual GDP of Guizhou, the southwestern Chinese province where the company is based. But why has Moutai, of all China's liquor brands, become one of the most influential? Is it simply because it tastes better? Probably not. Part of the answer may lie in a military campaign 90 years ago that changed the course of Chinese history, and this brand. I'm talking about the Red Army's Long March from 1934 to 1936. I covered the background of this historic journey in detail in my post two days ago. In January 1935, Chairman Mao regained the leading role in the Red Army's military command. Just two days later, this brilliant military strategist began to turn the tide of the Long March. Facing some 400,000 Nationalist troops under Chiang Kai-shek (蒋介石), Mao led a Red Army force of roughly 30,000 men in a remarkable series of maneuvers. Between January and March, the Red Army crossed the Chishui River (赤水河) four times, misleading Chiang about where his forces were headed and keeping the much larger Nationalist army constantly on the move. By outmaneuvering and defeating pursuing KMT forces, Mao led his troops out of Chiang's encirclement after the fourth crossing, giving a much-needed boost to the Red Army's morale. In the 1960s, the celebrated British Marshal Montgomery visited Beijing and met with Mao. Montgomery praised Mao's military genius in defeating Chiang Kai-shek during the Chinese Civil War in the late 1940s. But Mao replied, "My proudest achievement was crossing the Chishui River four times." And it was during this extraordinary military campaign that the Red Army had an encounter with Moutai liquor that would eventually shape the brand's destiny. On March 16, 1935, the Red Army entered Moutai Town. The town took its name from an altar once built with thatched grass. It was already well known for producing baijiu, China's traditional distilled spirit. Upon arriving, the Red Army took special care to protect the town's local liquor industry. Soldiers were ordered to maintain strict discipline, pay fairly for what they purchased, and refrain from taking even the smallest possessions from local residents. Guards serving Mao Zedong and other senior Red Army commanders visited local distilleries to buy Moutai. Lacking proper containers, they found thick bamboo stalks and used red-hot iron rods to pierce the joints inside, turning them into makeshift bottles. When the soldiers paid for the liquor, the distillery owners could hardly believe it. They had grown accustomed to KMT troops simply taking liquor without paying. Yet here was an army being pursued by hundreds of thousands of enemy soldiers, desperately short of food and supplies, still insisting on paying a fair price. Moutai also served another purpose during the Long March. According to later accounts, some soldiers used the strong liquor to clean wounds and rub their aching legs and feet, significantly relieving pain and fatigue after days of exhausting marches. On March 17, the Red Army crossed the Chishui River for the third time and departed Moutai Town. The soldiers left with a few bamboo containers of liquor, but what they left behind was a story of discipline, respect, and trust. The liquor itself also made a lasting impression on many of them. But few could have imagined just how closely the fate of this small town would become intertwined with the history of modern China. Decades later, I got to see what had become of that little town in person. In 2019, several colleagues and I retraced the route of the Long March. One evening, we passed through Moutai Town and spent the night there. Both banks of the Chishui River were lined with distilleries of all sizes. Their lights shimmered across the river, reflecting off the water and turning the entire town into a dazzling display of color. It was hard to imagine that this bustling place had once been just a small town tucked away in the mountains of Guizhou. Even more remarkable was the smell. The entire town seemed to be soaked in the rich aroma of baijiu. Even today, Moutai is still made with water drawn from the Chishui River, whose mineral content is believed to contribute to the liquor's distinctive flavor. We walked to the Kweichow Moutai distillery, which was open to visitors during the day but had already closed for the day. So we struck up a conversation with a security guard at the entrance. He told us that the town was home to more than a thousand distilleries and workshops. Then he revealed something even more surprising: he himself was the heir to a family-owned distillery! Naturally, we were curious. If he had a family distillery to inherit, why was he working as a security guard at Moutai? His answer was simple: To make connections. That brief exchange has stayed with me ever since. Back in 1935, the exhausted Red Army soldiers who had marched across mountains and valleys could hardly have imagined that their brief stop in Moutai Town would not only become a memorable chapter of the Long March, but also quietly shape the town's destiny decades later. Some of those Red Army commanders would go on to become powerful leaders of the People's Republic of China. And the Moutai they had tasted during those desperate years would, along with their memories, find its way out of the mountains of Guizhou and into the highest political and diplomatic circles of the new China. Of course, China has no shortage of famous spirits. Some others had much longer histories or had won even more prestigious awards at international expositions. But Moutai had something different: a unique connection to the people and events that shaped modern China. And that connection began during one of the most difficult chapters of the Long March, when the Red Army, despite its own desperate circumstances, insisted on paying for the liquor it took and treating local people with respect. The soldiers could neither have imagined that these small acts of discipline and respect would become part of a story told for generations. Brewing techniques can be mastered. Great liquor can be made. A reputation for quality can be built. But no distillery can go back in time and take part in the Long March of 1935. And that, perhaps, is the greatest secret behind Moutai's success, one that no other brand can ever replicate.

..merchants, hotels, restaurants, clubs and affluent Chinese consumers interested in Western-style products. In Shanghai and possibly also other Western settlements, the long-time wine & spirits merchants Caldbeck, MacGregor & Co. were agents for the brand. 4/12