Turning something you love into a thriving business is the dream of many people. And it is even more special when that passion passes down from one generation to the next.

Beijing native Chen Lizhong is one of the lucky people who has had the chance to accomplish both. She is the founder and owner of Tiansai Vineyards, a boutique winery located in Bayingolin Mongol autonomous prefecture, also known as Bazhou, in China’s far-west Xinjiang region.

“Owning a winery had been my dream for years before I started Tiansai,” Chen says. “I didn’t know it would come true until I visited Bazhou in 2007 and learned about its rich grape-growing and winemaking history.”

In 2009, Chen and her team began developing over 2,000 mu (133 hectares, 330 acres) of land to build Tiansai’s vineyard and facilities, which opened a year later.

Since opening in 2010, Tiansai Vineyards has won numerous awards and accolades under Chen’s leadership.

“At that time, many people, including those in the industry, didn’t think very highly of Chinese wine,” she says. “With Tiansai, my aspiration was to build a high-quality boutique winery that can produce wines that are on par with those from the most well-known wineries abroad, and change people’s impression of wine from China.”

Since Tiansai was established in 2010, it has received hundreds of awards and accolades, including being named twice as “China’s Best Winery” by La Revue du Vin de France (RVF), a renowned French wine media outlet, in 2015 and 2019, and as the “Demonstration Vineyard for Chinese Wineries” by the China Agricultural Society and China Alcoholic Drinks Association in 2014. Chen herself was also recognised as “Wine Figure of the Year” by RVF in 2016 and “Most Influential Winery Owner in China” by the China Wine Power List in 2020.

Chen’s success and passion for Chinese wine has clearly had a huge impact on her daughter, Zhu Lili. She began attending her mother’s wine dinners and events when she was in secondary school, and later, while attending university in the US, started developing her wine knowledge by enrolling in courses offered by the Wine and Spirit Education Trust.

Following her mother’s recommendation, Zhu then studied at a business school in Bordeaux, France, completing a master’s degree in wine and spirit management in 2017 that helped pave her career path into the industry.

After short stints in advertising and as a tour guide, Zhu found her true calling in 2020, when she started her own wine and lifestyle video channel on the Chinese social media platforms Douyin and WeChat, which is called Shao Zhuang Zhu Jin Tian Xing Jiu, or “Young Vineyard Master Is Sober Today”.

Zhu Lili’s video channel, “Young Vineyard Master Is Sober Today”, has garnered more than 2.1 million followers on the Douyin social media platform]

“At the time, video-led social media platforms were becoming more and more popular,” Zhu says. “I was keen to stay on top of market trends and see how these new technologies and platforms can help boost e-commerce performance, so I decided to give it a go and started my own channel.”

Now with more than 2.1 million followers on Douyin, the lifestyle influencer posts weekly content about her travels around China and her love for food and wine. Zhu also hosts live-streaming sales events to help Tiansai Vineyards – and other Chinese winemakers – promote their new products. At the same time, she acts as both a brand ambassador and a distributor for Tiansai.

“As Lili’s channel and role is consumer-facing, she provides a lot of valuable insights on our customers’ preferences in packaging and taste,” Chen says, adding that the winery has also taken on her daughter’s recommendations on the scheduling of promotions and product launches.

Chen and Zhu hope to continue to elevate the status of Chinese wine globally through their work.

Although Zhu isn’t involved in the daily operations of the winery, she and her mother are both united by the goal of promoting Chinese wine to the world. Zhu’s work as an influencer enables her to travel to all the best winemaking regions of China to showcase the fruits of the labour from many of the country’s best wineries. Meanwhile, Chen has taken up the role of president of the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture Wine Association to promote the region’s wines alongside the China Alcoholic Drinks Association.

“The most valuable thing I’ve learned from my mum is the passion for Chinese wine and the country’s winemaking industry,” Zhu says. “I hope I can continue to pass it on to more people through my work.”