一些外國人口中筆下的中國白酒

魏大鍋

很多年前，陪一批荷蘭人去黃山游玩。第二年春天，荷蘭團隊的女領隊來杭州時，送我一瓶威士忌。后來，與朋友們分享這瓶洋酒，感覺味道極其強悍、極其剛烈，大家評品說，完全與中國的白酒不一樣?，F在回想，主要還是因為習慣了東方式的醇厚綿長的酒味，因而對這種外國烈酒的味道感覺特殊，畢竟，喜歡什么樣的酒，大都與一個人生活在哪里關聯，也就是與文化環境相關。

前幾日，在網上查看中國白酒的英文翻譯時，看到北京、紐約、倫敦和利物浦竟然已經有外國人經營的白酒酒吧，感到甚是好奇，于是在搜索引擎上進一步了解。初步瀏覽，原來，正在有效推動中國白酒走向世界的，竟然主要不是中國人，而是外國人。

世界上第一家白酒酒吧，是外國人在北京開設的“首都酒坊”。這個實體是典型的店廠結合，作坊以中國原料制作各種烈酒，門店品飲生意經營得風生水起。稍后，酒吧又提供用中國白酒制作的雞尾酒，中西結合，很讓外國人喜歡，引起了國外媒體的注意?！都~約時報》拍攝的《北京36小時》視頻，專門提到了這家酒吧。也有中國人慕名前往，想要嘗嘗外國人發明的中西風味的雞尾酒究竟是什么味道，并給出了好評。以中國白酒為主打酒精飲品，也許是為了吸引西方旅游者的獵奇心和常住北京的外國人的好奇感，而實際結果是這一細分市場名聲大振。除了《紐約時報》外，《華爾街日報》、路透社、《南華早報》、《中國日報》、《人民日報》、美國哥倫比亞廣播公司等國內外主流媒體也報道了“首都酒坊”。此外，還有一些白酒達人和自媒體意見領袖，他們通過互聯網和社交媒體以及在北京出版發行的英文休閑雜志，發布評論和消息，使得這休閑去處名聞遐邇。

美國第一家以中國白酒為主打酒精飲料的酒吧在紐約，2015年《紐約時報》有專文介紹。英國利物浦則有全歐洲第一家中國白酒酒吧。這些酒吧也都以中國白酒調制雞尾酒，與北京的首都酒坊有異曲同工之妙。

世界上銷量最大的烈酒，并不是久負盛名的威士忌、伏特加、金酒和朗姆酒，而是中國白酒。據倫敦一家咨詢公司的估算，2016年中國白酒的銷量大約占全世界烈酒消費量的三分之一。這一事實，也許會讓各國酒徒感到意外。香港《亞洲時報》網站在2017年春節期間刊登了一篇關于中國白酒的文章，稱，白酒是中國刻意不向外宣示的秘密之一。雖然這一描述略顯夸張，但也說明了一個問題：中國人看中國，向世界講中國故事；外國人看中國，向自己人講述中國故事；兩者的著眼點、側重點和興奮點有時不一樣，效果也不一樣。前幾年在《中國日報》上看到五糧液的大幅文字廣告，主要講該酒的歷史悠久，原料營養豐富，甚至列表給出詳細數據，云云，當時就覺得怪怪的。而那些外國的中國白酒達人，基本都是開酒吧的生意人或者是調酒師，他們推廣中國白酒的方式方法，遠比中國白酒制造商更為直接更為有效。他們說的話、寫的文章，他們調制的白酒雞尾酒，更能讓外國消費者明白和接受。

如何品嘗白酒，了解中國白酒的特色，外國人有自己的說法。美國有線電視新聞網（CNN）網站在2017年春節期間刊登了一篇《如何品嘗白酒：北京的專家分享貼士》的文章，介紹中國白酒的品飲之法。

西方人越來越知道如何品鑒中國白酒，而這種精通，卻是他們自己結合他們的實際情況琢磨出來的。2015年，在貴州召開的世界名酒峰會上，前克羅地亞駐中國大使西蒙尼奇說，中國白酒廠商們應該從中餐如何在全世界獲得喜愛中汲取有益經驗。他說，他喜歡中國菜，但是相對在中國吃到的中國菜，他更喜歡在克羅地亞吃到的中國菜，因為那些菜已經得到改良，更適合他的口味。那次峰會，中國廠商得到了西方專家的建議：在開拓國外市場時要有創新精神。美國有兩家中國白酒制造商，用中國方式釀制白酒，但降低了酒精度，均取得了一定的成功。其中一種白酒取名“Bye Joe”，這兩個英文單詞恰好與中國字“白酒”基本同音，英文意思是“再見，喬”。在那次峰會上，外國調酒師還現場示范了他們為外國人發明調制的茅臺雞尾酒。

對中國白酒的推廣工作，出力最大的，似乎也是外國人。據《亞洲時報》說，美國人德里克·桑德豪斯撰寫的《白酒：中國烈酒必備指南》是第一本關于中國白酒的英文圖書。常住北京的加拿大白酒達人吉姆·博伊斯，2016年在北京創辦了頗有國際影響力的“世界白酒日”，這個節日定在每年的8月8日。當年，世界20個城市舉辦了30場中國白酒日活動，持續一周。2017年的規模將超過去年。自2014年以來，英國倫敦在中國農歷新年之際舉辦中國白酒雞尾酒周，全市很多酒吧都會參與，并向顧客介紹中國白酒的起源和傳統，請白酒達人講解如何品嘗。

外國人直接采用“白酒”的漢語拼音作為中國白酒的英文名字，中國著名白酒的商標名稱也全部采用漢語拼音作為音譯。維基百科對中國白酒各種香型的介紹，則采用解釋性的意譯?？粗袊拙普谧呦蚴澜绲膶嵗蚁耄S著中國文化通過各種渠道與世界各種文化有更多、更深入的交融，越來越多的中國名詞會以漢語拼音形式出現在英語和其他語言中。

現在想起來一直很后悔，當年荷蘭領隊送我威士忌時，我并沒想到要回贈中國黃酒或者中國白酒。如果是現在，我一定會的。畢竟，中國的酒，歷史悠久，對一些西方人來說，那是中國保守得最好的秘密之一。對外文化交流，讓中國文化走出去，有各種渠道。一瓶酒，對普通人來說，也許是很好的選擇。

Years ago， a tour leader from the Netherlands gave me a bottle of whisky. I shared it with my friends. We found it strong and pungent and commented that it was unlike our baijiu， a Chinese spirit， at all. After all， our taste buds are all conditioned by local food and beverage.

The other day， I was looking for English translations of baijiu on internet when I ran into news titles about bars in London， New York and Liverpool that served cocktails made with Chinese baijiu as the main ingredient. I was surprised. Further search led me to detailed reports and blogs. I have found that baijiu is going international and that the fad is being pushed largely and more effectively by foreigners.

Beijing Spirits， a bar founded and operated by two foreigners in Beijing， is the worlds first bar of its kind that serves Baijiu. The business also brews its own spirits by using Chinese ingredients in the Chinese capital. The bar has flourished and caught the attention of the mainstream media. New York Times mentions the bar in ， a documentary. Some Chinese drinkers go to the bar too， wishing to taste baijiu cocktails invented by foreigners and they drinkers okay the inventions. The bar attracts western tourists and members of the local expat community in Beijing. In addition to New York Times， Wall Street Journal， Reuters， China Daily， Peoples Daily， CBS News， South China Morning Post covered the bar in Beijing. The bar also gets promoted by baijiu professionals and opinion leaders in their blogs and websites.

Americas first bar that uses Chinese baijiu is in New York. Europes first bar that serves baijiu is in Liverpool. They are like Capital Spirits in Beijing： serving cocktails made of baijiu.

Baijiu outsells whisky， vodka， gin， and rum in the world. According to a consultation company in London， baijiu accounted for about one third of the spirits in 2016. This may be a surprising piece of news to many. An article at the website of Asian Times based in Hong Kong said during the Spring Festival 2017 that baijiu was one of the secrets China kept from the world. This description may sound little bit exaggerating， but it makes one thing very clear： there is a big difference between the way Chinese people look at the world and relate whats interesting about China and the way the world looks in at China and reports what it sees. This reminds me of a huge promotional presentation in China Daily by a Chinese baijiu maker. The advertisement highlights the history of the alcohol and gave a detailed table for nutrients the alcoholic beverage contained. I remember the advertisement lost me. Those foreign baijiu experts and professionals are bartenders or businessmen who operate bars in big cities. They promote Chinese baijiu more effectively and more directly than Chinese baijiu makers. The sentences they say and write in their blogs and at websites and the baijiu cocktails they make at their bars are delightfully easier for foreign consumers to understand and accept.

Foreigners know how to introduce baijiu to the world. CNN ran a story at its website during the Spring Festival 2017， sharing tips of baijiu appreciation with readers. Foreigners know more and more concerning how to drink Chinese baijiu. This expertise they have accumulated themselves. The global popularity of Chinese food offers a lesson to the makers of baijiu， China's distinctive white spirit， offered former Croatian ambassador to China Ante Simonic. Speaking at the World Famous Liquor Summit hosted by Moutai Group in Renhuai， Guizhou province in 2015， Simonic told a packed auditorium that he loved Chinese food， but sometimes liked it better at home in Europe than here in China. Jim Boyce， a Canadian wine expert based in Beijing， is the founder of World Baijiu Day. In 2016， according to him， 30 Baijiu Day events were held in 20 cities around the world. He plans more events for this years big promotion day. Derek Sandhaus， an American， is the author of Baijiu： ， the very first book on the subject in English.

I have my regrets. One of them is that I didnt give the Dutch tour leader a bottle of rice wine or baijiu after receiving the gift bottle of whisky from her. I would like to give her a bottle of Chinese wine if I had the chance. After all， Chinese liquors are one of the best secrets China keeps from the world， according to some westerners. Cultural exchanges go various ways. A bottle wine is probably a very good choice for me.