魏大锅

很多年前，陪一批荷蘭人去黄山游玩。第二年春天，荷兰团队的女领队来杭州时，送我一瓶威士忌。后来，与朋友们分享这瓶洋酒，感觉味道极其强悍、极其刚烈，大家评品说，完全与中国的白酒不一样。现在回想，主要还是因为习惯了东方式的醇厚绵长的酒味，因而对这种外国烈酒的味道感觉特殊，毕竟，喜欢什么样的酒，大都与一个人生活在哪里关联，也就是与文化环境相关。

前几日，在网上查看中国白酒的英文翻译时，看到北京、纽约、伦敦和利物浦竟然已经有外国人经营的白酒酒吧，感到甚是好奇，于是在搜索引擎上进一步了解。初步浏览，原来，正在有效推动中国白酒走向世界的，竟然主要不是中国人，而是外国人。

世界上第一家白酒酒吧，是外国人在北京开设的“首都酒坊”。这个实体是典型的店厂结合，作坊以中国原料制作各种烈酒，门店品饮生意经营得风生水起。稍后，酒吧又提供用中国白酒制作的鸡尾酒，中西结合，很让外国人喜欢，引起了国外媒体的注意。《纽约时报》拍摄的《北京36小时》视频，专门提到了这家酒吧。也有中国人慕名前往，想要尝尝外国人发明的中西风味的鸡尾酒究竟是什么味道，并给出了好评。以中国白酒为主打酒精饮品，也许是为了吸引西方旅游者的猎奇心和常住北京的外国人的好奇感，而实际结果是这一细分市场名声大振。除了《纽约时报》外，《华尔街日报》、路透社、《南华早报》、《中国日报》、《人民日报》、美国哥伦比亚广播公司等国内外主流媒体也报道了“首都酒坊”。此外，还有一些白酒达人和自媒体意见领袖，他们通过互联网和社交媒体以及在北京出版发行的英文休闲杂志，发布评论和消息，使得这休闲去处名闻遐迩。

美国第一家以中国白酒为主打酒精饮料的酒吧在纽约，2015年《纽约时报》有专文介绍。英国利物浦则有全欧洲第一家中国白酒酒吧。这些酒吧也都以中国白酒调制鸡尾酒，与北京的首都酒坊有异曲同工之妙。

世界上销量最大的烈酒，并不是久负盛名的威士忌、伏特加、金酒和朗姆酒，而是中国白酒。据伦敦一家咨询公司的估算，2016年中国白酒的销量大约占全世界烈酒消费量的三分之一。这一事实，也许会让各国酒徒感到意外。香港《亚洲时报》网站在2017年春节期间刊登了一篇关于中国白酒的文章，称，白酒是中国刻意不向外宣示的秘密之一。虽然这一描述略显夸张，但也说明了一个问题：中国人看中国，向世界讲中国故事；外国人看中国，向自己人讲述中国故事；两者的着眼点、侧重点和兴奋点有时不一样，效果也不一样。前几年在《中国日报》上看到五粮液的大幅文字广告，主要讲该酒的历史悠久，原料营养丰富，甚至列表给出详细数据，云云，当时就觉得怪怪的。而那些外国的中国白酒达人，基本都是开酒吧的生意人或者是调酒师，他们推广中国白酒的方式方法，远比中国白酒制造商更为直接更为有效。他们说的话、写的文章，他们调制的白酒鸡尾酒，更能让外国消费者明白和接受。

如何品尝白酒，了解中国白酒的特色，外国人有自己的说法。美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）网站在2017年春节期间刊登了一篇《如何品尝白酒：北京的专家分享贴士》的文章，介绍中国白酒的品饮之法。

西方人越来越知道如何品鉴中国白酒，而这种精通，却是他们自己结合他们的实际情况琢磨出来的。2015年，在贵州召开的世界名酒峰会上，前克罗地亚驻中国大使西蒙尼奇说，中国白酒厂商们应该从中餐如何在全世界获得喜爱中汲取有益经验。他说，他喜欢中国菜，但是相对在中国吃到的中国菜，他更喜欢在克罗地亚吃到的中国菜，因为那些菜已经得到改良，更适合他的口味。那次峰会，中国厂商得到了西方专家的建议：在开拓国外市场时要有创新精神。美国有两家中国白酒制造商，用中国方式酿制白酒，但降低了酒精度，均取得了一定的成功。其中一种白酒取名“Bye Joe”，这两个英文单词恰好与中国字“白酒”基本同音，英文意思是“再见，乔”。在那次峰会上，外国调酒师还现场示范了他们为外国人发明调制的茅台鸡尾酒。

对中国白酒的推广工作，出力最大的，似乎也是外国人。据《亚洲时报》说，美国人德里克·桑德豪斯撰写的《白酒：中国烈酒必备指南》是第一本关于中国白酒的英文图书。常住北京的加拿大白酒达人吉姆·博伊斯，2016年在北京创办了颇有国际影响力的“世界白酒日”，这个节日定在每年的8月8日。当年，世界20个城市举办了30场中国白酒日活动，持续一周。2017年的规模将超过去年。自2014年以来，英国伦敦在中国农历新年之际举办中国白酒鸡尾酒周，全市很多酒吧都会参与，并向顾客介绍中国白酒的起源和传统，请白酒达人讲解如何品尝。

外国人直接采用“白酒”的汉语拼音作为中国白酒的英文名字，中国著名白酒的商标名称也全部采用汉语拼音作为音译。维基百科对中国白酒各种香型的介绍，则采用解释性的意译。看中国白酒正在走向世界的实例，我想，随着中国文化通过各种渠道与世界各种文化有更多、更深入的交融，越来越多的中国名词会以汉语拼音形式出现在英语和其他语言中。

现在想起来一直很后悔，当年荷兰领队送我威士忌时，我并没想到要回赠中国黄酒或者中国白酒。如果是现在，我一定会的。毕竟，中国的酒，历史悠久，对一些西方人来说，那是中国保守得最好的秘密之一。对外文化交流，让中国文化走出去，有各种渠道。一瓶酒，对普通人来说，也许是很好的选择。

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.