How China’s liquor heartland traded old spirits for new energy

Wuliangye, China’s second-largest liquor producer, is a household name. But Yibin, the lower-tier city in Sichuan province home to the famous baijiu maker, has long flown under the radar. So when I received an invitation earlier this month for a media trip to Yibin, the first question that sprang to mind was: where exactly is it? Tucked away behind the hills of western China, we had to fly to Chengdu, Sichuan’s capital, followed by a bus transfer. And when we finally arrived, local officials...