And in a bid to make it as convenient as possible to get wine to consumers, Changyu Wine Company, China's largest winemaker, now offers a buy-and-deposit service. Clients can order a certain barrels of Changyu Castel wine, which will be stored by the company and then bottled on demand.

In elegant and upscale restaurants in Beijing, like Tian Di Yi Jia outside the famous Palace Museum, various fine wines stored in oaken casks are available for diners. Robert Cho, owner of Tian Di Yi Jia, will also recommend to his clients what kind of wine will compliment the dishes on offer. .

"Half of my clients don't know much about wine," Cho said. "They know French wines like Chateau Lafite and Chateau Margaux, but almost know nothing about wine from California or Australia. Others who have studied abroad have a better understanding of the role wines play in Western food culture."

However, as with many imported goods to China, a degree of Chinese characteristics inevitably creeps into the process. By mixing red wine with Sprite and ice, Beijingers have come up with their own trendy way of customizing their after work drink.

And as the 2008 Olympic Games draws near, and more luxury hotels grace the Beijing skyline, there is no doubt sales of wine will flow in ever increasing amounts, in whatever way its drunk.

Foreign winemakers scramble

As wine is increasingly popular in cities like Beijing (population 15 million) and Shanghai (population 18 million), it is not surprising that overseas winemakers are anticipating strong revenue growth from the market in China.

According to the Canadian Embassy in China, Beijing and Shanghai have the largest markets for Western food while their major hotels and restaurants prominently feature wine.

Wine sales (grape and non-grape) in China jumped 42 percent between 2001 and 2006, from 1.5 billion liters to 2.18 billion liters. And per-capita consumption of wine in China saw an increase of 55 percent from 2000 to 2006, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture Trade Office, Shanghai, making China one of the six biggest wine consuming countries in the world.

In Asia, China's wine consumption volume has now shot to first place, higher than that of Japan. But China's wine market still has vast potential for growth. The average annual wine consumption per capita in China is currently 1.5 kilolitres, while that in France is around 55 kilolitres.

Since joining the World Trade Organization in December 2001, China has lowered tariffs on wine imports from 64 percent to 14 percent. Statistics show that the wine imports to Beijing in 2006 have increased 50 percent compared with the previous year. The exports of wine from France to China reached some 5.3 million kiloliters in 2006, an increase of 30,000 kiloliters year on year.

Today, most Chinese still believe that French wine is the best. According to Alexandre Remy, the export volume of French wine to China almost doubled in 2005 and 2006. But France still lags behind Australia, which is the biggest wine exporter to China.

More than 100 varieties of French local table wine were shown at the Eighth China International Food and Beverage Exhibition held in Beijing on May 10-12, indicating French winemakers' ambition to take a bigger share in the Chinese market. They not only hope to seize the top grade wine market in China, but also want to enter the low-end wine market here.

It is said that wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance. If that is the case, in China's quest for a harmonious society, wine could have a big role to play.