🍽️ Tonghua Wine & Dog Meat

Famous local wine with Changbai-style dishes.

Tonghua sits in the heart of the Changbai Mountains, where big day-night temperature differences produce excellent mountain grapes. Its sweet-style grape wine, deep purple, rich in fruity aroma and gently sweet with a balancing acidity, has long been a celebrated regional tipple of Northeast China. At local banquets, people pair this wine with hearty braised mountain meats and small dipped dishes. The sweet, fruity liquid cuts through the richness of the meat and refreshes the palate. This matching of wine brewed in the hills with meat stewed in the hills reflects the hearty, straightforward hospitality of the Changbai foothills. Today Tonghua wine is sold far and wide, yet locals still pour a glass at holiday family feasts, sipping it slowly with hot dishes, a small window onto the eating culture of China's northeastern borderlands.