A company in a suburban district of Beijing claimed it had successfully distilled liquor from watermelon, revolutionizing the long-lasting tradition of making liquor from grain.
The first batch of the watermelon liquor developed by the Beijing Jinguo Brewery in Daxing District will appear on the market around October 1, China's National Day, the Beijing Morning Post newspaper reported.
The alcohol content of the watermelon liquor is between 18 and 55 percent, company sources said.
The liquor can also be called "healthy alcohol" as it preserves to the maximum extent the amino acids and vitamins in the watermelon and contains no additives.
The liquor is developed by a Hungarian expert brewer and the development process is said to involve a "high technological content".
With a production line imported from Hungary, the company is capable of processing nearly 10,000 tons of watermelons each year, said the newspaper. But it failed to mention how much liquor can be produced.
Statistics show that each year more than 20 billion kg (44 lb) of grain is consumed in China for liquor and beer production, a luxury for a country which has to feed one fifth of the global population with seven percent of the world's farmland.
Some Chinese leaders in recent years have repeatedly urged the people to "drink less liquor" and take fruit wines instead.
Beijing has abundant watermelon supply from its rural areas, with some 5,000 hectares (12,355 acres) of watermelon fields in Daxing District alone.
(Xinhua News Agency August 1, 2002)
