A visit to the Jing Jiu factory and an iron mine

Today was a day off from everything. We headed off with some teachers from the English Department to the Jing Jiu factory. While the company produces everything from red wine to water, what they are most known for is an alcoholic beverage made with traditional Chinese herbal medicines. According to our teachers and guides, this medicine is often used by men and older people. Our visit consisted of a short tour around the various parts of the plant where we saw step by step how they made the famous spirit. The process starts out with tons of herbs that are brought in and cut and crushed. From there we weren't able to see clearly, but a liquor is made that sits in large vats for about 5 months before it is ready to be bottled and sold on the market. The drink is then bottled and shipped all over China.

The second visit of the day was to a local mine. The mine is not used very much anymore and much of it serves as a tourist destination to view how mining was carried out. The area around Huangshi had many mines for coal, iron, copper, and gold. The mine that we visited had been used for iron mainly during the Qing Dynasty. The mine was also used by the Japanese while they occupied the area and there are still buildings standing that date from that period.