We will be in mainland China for a month, traveling to many small and large cities. We always like to have some white wine (such as a Sauvignon Blanc or Chablis, not Chardonney) before and with our dinner. On our trips, we usually buy some bottles of wine to have with us and in addition, order wine for dinner. Do most restaurants serve good white wine, at reasonable prices? Is it easy to buy bottles of wine and at what kind of stores can you buy wine? We would prefer to buy local Chinese wine, if possible; are there any particularly well known brands for this type of wine? Otherwise, are most of the foreign wines from Australia or NZ? Thanks for any information. Do most restaurants serve good white wine, at reasonable prices? --not most of the restaurants, but the more upscale or foreign ones do. Wine is still not a typical drink for dinner in China. Is it easy to buy bottles of wine and at what kind of stores can you buy wine? ---depends on the city, but most of the supermarkets offer a choice of wine.

Bigger ones like Carrefour or Ole have a wider choice, sometimes a quite impressive choice. Also some convenience stores offer wine and shops that sell a choice of alcohol do as well. Easy to get wine I would say, but sometimes the choices are limited and prices for good wine can be high, usually higher than in AUS/NZ, EU or US. There is also a growing number of wine shops in the bigger cities. You can buy wine from all over the world and expensive bottles like Chateau Margeaux for a couple of 10K RMB, but also reasonably priced wine. Expect to pay about double than at home for the same quality. We would prefer to buy local Chinese wine, if possible; are there any particularly well known brands for this type of wine? --> check this thread: You should definitely try it out. I am sure you will visit some restaurant that will offer wine. From my point of view, the chance to get an acceptable wine is better for red rather than white wine, but tastes are a personal thing. Well know brands are Great Wall and Dynasty.

Otherwise, are most of the foreign wines from Australia or NZ? --> no, but also available. Be aware, if somebody talks about Chinese white wine (for example a Chinese talking to you in English), he is usually referring to strong (white) alcohol wich is more famous in China. It is called baijiu, "white alcohol". You should consider to try it as well. To be sure to get wine, the word pútáo, "grape" is added to make it bái pútáojiǔ 白葡萄酒, "white grape alcohol". For red wine it is good enough to say hóngjiǔ, 红酒 "red alcohol" rather than hóng pútáojiǔ 红葡萄酒, "red grape alcohol". IMO, there aren't any really decent local Chinese wines especially whites. Restaurants: you're most likely to find good imported wines at upscale western restaurants either independent establishments or in hotels. Very decent wines are available though pricing tends to be a bit on the high side--guess it depends on what you are used to. Retail: major cities like Beijing and Shanghai definitely have wine shops geared to foreign wines, also upscale grocers often stock a selection.

Availability includes wines from Oz/NZ, Europe, North and South America, and often South Africa. Pricing is somewhat cheaper than identical bottles obtained in a restaurant, but Chinese do levy import taxes. Wine availability has dramatically increased in the last 10 years, a reflection of the large increase in upper crust Chinese with a growing interest. best wine from target 2 destinations mentioned in this postbest wine pizza As mentioned above white wine (made from grapes) is very uncommon in China. best beer and wine for weddingI have eaten mainly at cheap-medium-priced restaurants regularly for 9 years and have seldom seen a wine list. what is the best wine filter

Only when I ate at expat-owned restaurants or stayed at & ate in 4 star chains like Sheraton did I find wine on offer. At my first experience of a Chinese banquet my hosts were shocked when I asked for "white wine" - so I quickly learned to add the "putao". In Zhuhai we make frequent cross-border raids to buy good Portugese white wine!!best fruity red wine If you like wine, please don't buy or drink Chinese wine. best white wine rankingYou'd want to rinse your mouth out afterwards. I am sorry this is too harsh, but wine making is a very very young industry in China, and they have not figure out how to do it yet (if ever). Chinese don't drink wine with their meals (unless you think of rice wine as "wine"). Only expats and those who are more western in their habits drink wine. So my suggestion is, while you are in China, drink beer.

Local beer is very cheap (and very weak). There are some good local beer such as Tsingtao. But even foreign beer is not that expensive. I would give it a try. I had drinkable Chinese wines. They imports However, for the price of that wine I could have bought a better quality of a French wine. They import vines and know how from France and grow the wine in China. Sometimes it may work. Beer is definitely available in most of the restaurants (not available in muslim restaurants). And I would stick to Chinese beer when visiting China, but this is a personal thing. I prefer to enjoy the local products if there is a good option available. The Tsingtao (Qing dao) beer brewery was founded by Germans 1903. The recipe changed, rice was added, but the taste is still like a standard pilsener beer and it can compete with other pilsener beers. There are various local beers available, smaller breweries and larger ones. For example Yanjing beer in Beijing, quite OK. /brands/brand-explorer/snow-(11p), not my favourite.

Kingway Shenzhen, local beer, hangover beer (my view and experience). Not sure if you like beer. As mentioned, you will find wine, Chinese and wine from all over the world. Restaurant's wine is generally much overpriced as most people still treat wine as something exotic. People generally buy wine in super market. Popular Chinese brands here are generally Great Wall/长城, Changyu/张裕, DYNASTY/王朝, WILON/威龙, etc. Former two will be the best. -:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-This topic has been closed to new posts due to inactivity. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one./pages/forums_posting_guidelines.htmlWe remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason. Advice for Great Wall visit Sacred way/Changling tomb - some questions Visiting Cuandixia (爨底下) possibly staying overnight Beijing Airport to Chongwen Men -First Time Traveller