Niangxiaojiang baijiu: Cultural fusion of baijiu and Nuo Masks

During the National Day holiday from Oct 1 to 7, the Niangxiaojiang series of baijiu was prominently displayed at the "Guiyang Souvenirs" image store at Qingyan Ancient Town in Guiyang. The product, which won the Gold Award for Packaging and Product Design at Guiyang's first "Guiyang Souvenirs" Cultural Creative Competition, attracted the attention of numerous tourists.

Niangxiaojiang is a series of soy-sauce flavored baijiu launched by Guizhou Jiangjiu Group, a subsidiary of the State-owned Guiyang Industrial Development Holding Group. The bottle design features a square shape with a Nuo Mask on the front. Nuo originated from ancient rituals aimed at warding off evil spirits and has evolved over 3,000 years as a significant part of China's primitive shamanistic culture.

Guizhou's Nuo culture is widespread and includes various forms of opera, such as Dixi Opera, Yang Opera, and Zitong Opera. The intricately designed and crafted masks are the essence of Nuo performances. Inspired by this cultural heritage, Niangxiaojiang combines these traditional masks with classic baijiu, blending modern aesthetics with cultural significance. This design makes Chinese cultural heritage appealing to younger generations, promoting traditional arts through a contemporary lens.

The designer of Niangxiaojiang explained that, in pursuit of the perfect packaging, the design team visited numerous packaging material manufacturers across provinces like Guizhou, Sichuan, Shandong, Zhejiang, and Guangdong. They performed multiple mold tests and optimizations to achieve the product's final form.

In addition to participating in the "Guiyang Souvenirs" competition, Niangxiaojiang was showcased at the first China (Guizhou) International Alcoholic Beverages Expo Cultural Tourism and Art Festival. According to the Guizhou Jiangjiu Group, the product will mainly be sold in themed gift boxes.