It is transparent, like water, and seems to be harmless. But beware! Baijiu has an amazing capacity for livening up party-Boers in less than five minutes before leaving them with unbearable headaches and memory blackouts.
Baijiu is usually distilled from sorghum, but other grains, such as barley, wheat or oak, can be used.
At 42 percent or even 56 percent of pure alcohol, cheap baijiu, sold virtually everywhere for a few yuan-either in a bottle, little glass cups or even small plastic bags-does not smell much different to disinfectant.
Of course, there are many kinds of baijiu, at various prices. For instance the Maotai brand has been crowned as China's "national wine." The wisest option is to seek advice from an authentic baijiu connoisseur when trying to select a good bottle of baijiu, which honors China's long tradition of producing spirits.
