Christa Posted January 21, 2018 at 07:47 PM Report Share Posted January 21, 2018 at 07:47 PM For white wine and red wine, do you guys just say 白酒 and 红酒 or do you say 白葡萄酒 and 红葡萄酒? I once said 白酒 and the person I was talking to thought I meant liquor. Did any of you ever get that? Christina Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted January 21, 2018 at 08:44 PM Report Share Posted January 21, 2018 at 08:44 PM In Taiwan, you can use 白酒 for white wine. In China, 白酒 is always liquor, white wine is 白葡萄酒. In Taiwan, that type of hard liquor is 高粱酒 (if I'm not mistaken), so there is no danger for confusion there. 红酒 for red wine works on both sides of the strait, but 红葡萄酒 is also fine and a bit less informal. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcdefg Posted January 21, 2018 at 11:53 PM Report Share Posted January 21, 2018 at 11:53 PM 4 hours ago, Christa said: I once said 白酒 and the person I was talking to thought I meant liquor. Did any of you ever get that? On the mainland, Baijiu 白酒 is strong liquor. Not even close to white wine. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
somethingfunny Posted January 22, 2018 at 09:44 AM Report Share Posted January 22, 2018 at 09:44 AM Also note that the same issue exists in the other direction. If a Chinese person talks in English about "wine" or "white wine" then they are likely (depending on their level) talking about the strong liquor 白酒 and not the stuff made from grapes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luxi Posted January 22, 2018 at 10:38 AM Report Share Posted January 22, 2018 at 10:38 AM I think 'hong jiu' may also refer to liquor in some places. For wine as we understand it, you have to specify 葡萄酒 (pútaojiǔ) ， 白 or 红. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyJonesLocker Posted January 22, 2018 at 11:35 AM Report Share Posted January 22, 2018 at 11:35 AM 11 hours ago, abcdefg said: On the mainland, Baijiu 白酒 is strong liquor. Not even close to white wine. Agree, on the mainland 白酒 is never understood to mean white wine. It ranges from that nasty 二锅头 which is a close resemblance of paint thinner , to really quite nice ones 红酒 = Red wine 白葡萄酒 = White wine. People wouldn't usually say 红葡萄酒 to refer to red wine unless you are trying to specific for some reason. (Well I can't speak for all of China of course) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcdefg Posted January 22, 2018 at 12:44 PM Report Share Posted January 22, 2018 at 12:44 PM 1 hour ago, DavyJonesLocker said: Agree, on the mainland 白酒 is never understood to mean white wine. It ranges from that nasty 二锅头 which is a close resemblance of paint thinner , to really quite nice ones Here's a way to turn erguoutou 二锅头 into something pretty nice. https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/55547-middle-kingdom-limoncello/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christa Posted January 24, 2018 at 07:25 PM Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 at 07:25 PM Thanks for this, everyone. Yes, the difference described between Taiwan and Mainland China is borne out by my own experiences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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