A remarkable discovery in Shandong Province, east China, has revealed liquid in an ancient piece of bronzeware to be distilled liquor, pushing the origins of China's distilled alcohol production back to more than 3,000 years ago.
The liquid was in a bronze utensil unearthed in 2010 at the Daxinzhuang Ruins in Jinan City, the capital of Shandong, dating back to the late Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1046 BC). It took archaeologists years to open the utensil, which was sealed by rust.