Asia's 50 Best Restaurants for the first time feature Chinese Baijiu: Langjiu, as the exclusive partner, lets the world taste the classic sauce aroma.

Chinese baijiu is rapidly moving towards international markets.

On the evening of March 25, the 2026 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants award ceremony, known as the “Oscars” of the Asian dining industry, was held for the first time in Hong Kong. Langjiu appeared as the only brand from the Chinese baijiu industry to collaborate, showcasing Hongyun Lang, Qinghua Lang, and Honghua Lang, allowing many foreign guests to experience Chinese baijiu.

This marks another breakthrough for Langjiu after its appearance at the 2025 World’s 50 Best Bars awards, further establishing its presence in the international dining scene.

Last year, Langjiu was the first exclusive partner for this award in the baijiu category. Langjiu’s general manager, Wang Bowei, was invited to attend the World’s 50 Best Bars awards ceremony and served as the first award presenter for the winning bar representatives.

This year, after Wang Bowei took on the role of chairman of the newly established Langjiu International Development (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., he led a team to deeply participate in the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants award ceremony, allowing Langjiu to continue its appearances on the international stage.

From bars to restaurants, Langjiu is merging scenes, positioning baijiu as an important part of Chinese flavors, integrating into the cultural exchange between East and West.

When baijiu is served on the international dining table, the vast future of “baijiu+”

At the event, cocktails made with Langjiu were very popular. For international restaurateurs accustomed to whiskey or gin as base spirits, this was a completely unfamiliar yet refreshing taste experience.

For example, “The Cave” uses Qinghua Lang as a base spirit, paired with smoked black plums, red dates, red vermouth, Cynar, and chocolate bitters. The bartender noted that these dark ingredients, with their bittersweet and woody notes, aim to create a deep and complex flavor experience reminiscent of the “Tianbao Cave,” which requires careful tasting to appreciate its layered richness.

“Lang’s Resonance” is a creation based on Honghua Lang, paired with osmanthus, cranberry, pineapple, preserved plums, kumquat, and purple perilla bitters. “Unlike ordinary tropical-style cocktails, the addition of cranberry juice and dry sherry gives the drink a deeper red hue and a drier, more complex mouthfeel.”

Chefs and restaurant owners present at the event were eager to try. They believed, “Baijiu is more mellow than expected, making it appealing to try neat,” and “Baijiu has a unique aroma, different from whiskey and sake, it has a complex fermented fragrance.”

These responses indicate that drinking methods can alter perceptions, and the uniqueness of baijiu can be appreciated—provided that someone offers an appropriate way, a gateway for overseas consumers to enter the world of Chinese baijiu.

Clearly, Langjiu seized this opportunity.

The Co. restaurant in Chengdu made it to the 51-100 list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants this year. This restaurant has only five tables, and its multi-course tasting menu combines seasonal ingredients with innovative creativity, inspired by the chef’s travels.

“We are native Chinese, but we serve French cuisine. What we have always done is to combine the diverse cultures seen abroad with local Sichuan culture,” said Lao Yang and Mei Yi, founders of Co. restaurant, who expressed a strong willingness to use local Sichuan baijiu, hoping to reintroduce it to customers through their understanding and creativity. This not only promotes local brands but also provides customers with a fresh experience.

These award-winning restaurants share a common consensus: achieving the convergence and innovation of East and West cultures through the restaurant platform is a currently successful exploration path. Baijiu, as the most representative spirit of Chinese culinary culture, naturally becomes one of the protagonists in this convergence.

This might represent even more possibilities for “baijiu+”—systematically entering the international dining evaluation system, truly integrating into local daily life. The path to the internationalization of baijiu is evolving from “going out” to “going in.”

Baijiu internationalization, finally someone is starting to do the “translation”

Since its launch in 2013, the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list has been voted on by a panel of over 350 influential industry leaders in the Asian dining scene. Thus, this list is considered one of the barometers of Asian dining, and its value is undeniable.

This year’s list saw a record number of restaurants from mainland China, with three more than last year. Restaurants such as Fu He Hui, Yu Wai Tan, Yi Ling Er, Ling Long, Ru Yuan, Lan Zhai, and La Bourriche 133 all stood out.

Another significant change is that restaurants from non-first-tier Chinese cities are beginning to shine—restaurants in places like Chengdu and Shenzhen made their debut on the list.

This indicates that more Chinese cities are emerging with refined dining. This is not a singular phenomenon, but the formation of a group of excellent restaurants that can give birth to internationally influential establishments. Yang Guang, vice chairman of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants Mainland China, believes this reflects changes in market demand, as China reintroduces the world to what true Chinese flavors are.

“This means baijiu brands need to seriously consider how to truly go global, breaking through the limitations of the Chinese market.”

He further pointed out that Langjiu’s current exploratory path is valuable. “To have the whole world accept Chinese baijiu, manufacturers need to proactively make adjustments and changes, whether in the product itself or in the drinking methods, just like whiskey and sake have gone through such development processes.”

For a long time, one of the biggest barriers faced by baijiu in the international dining scene has been language translation and the misalignment of drinking contexts. In China, products like Honghua Lang are the stars of banquets; whereas in international dining culture, spirits are typically supporting players in pairing or social cocktails.

Last year, Langjiu served as the first exclusive partner for baijiu, witnessing the 2025 World’s 50 Best Bars awards, stepping into the professional realm of international spirit cocktails; this year it continued to deeply participate in the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants, celebrating Asian dining.

From bars to restaurants, the two events correspond to the two core contexts of spirits in the international market—cocktail mixing and food pairing. Essentially, Langjiu is doing one thing: placing baijiu within the universally understood language system.

Notably, Langjiu is also promoting the “World Winery Alliance,” collaborating with brands like Pernod Ricard and Penfolds. This is not a conceptual initiative but aims to align the positioning of “mansion sauce liquor” with international high-end wineries through a universally understood language system.

Through appearances at global events such as the “IAA World Advertising Congress,” “Venice Architecture Biennale,” and the “24th Milan Global Fashion Summit,” as well as sharing Chinese New Year with the world at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Langjiu has significantly enhanced international recognition of the brand. Clearly, this is not a one-off attempt, but a systematic branding strategy.

Langjiu is innovating and rewriting the narrative of baijiu overseas. (Gu Yu)