By+staff+reporter+ZHOU+LIN

ON March 28， at the invitation of the German K？rber Foundation in Berlin， President Xi Jinping delivered a speech on Chinas foreign policy. Special mention was given to German winemaker Norbert Gorres.

“Norbert Gorres is a wine expert who， together with his assistant Hans Beu， made 17 trips to Zaozhuang City in east Chinas Shandong Province between 2000 and 2009 to share his knowledge of viticulture and grafting technology with local farmers. He also authorized the local winery to make world-class wine under his family business label. In those nine years， Gorres and Beu jointly subsidized eight impoverished students in Zaozhuang to finance their studies. In 2007， when Beus health deteriorated， he asked Gorres to personally deliver one final donation of RMB 2，000 to two students， whose schooling he had been supporting. Gorres finally realized Beus wish on August 1， 2008， moving the locals to tears，” Xi said.

Today， helped by the two German experts， a vast expanse of thriving vineyards has come into being in Shanting District of Zaozhuang. Standing out in the green vastness is the Norbert-Hans Vineyard in typical European style， named after its founding fathers. A two-meter-high bronze statue of the elderly Gorres， shown with a glass of wine in his hand， smiling at the friendship between two nations， stands by the side of the grape plantation.

New Viticulture

Shanting District of Zaozhuang is an area affected by resource depletion after decades of coal mining as a pillar industry. The authorities have sought to transform the local economy into a more sustainable one by encouraging farmers to grow grapes. In 2000， the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs， Chinas top governmental agency for overseas headhunting， invited Gorres to help.

Gorres， a member of Germanys Senior Experten Service （SES）， a nonprofit organization that offers retired experts opportunities to pass on their skills and knowledge to those in need both at home and abroad， was invited to get the local winemaking industry off the ground. Together with Beu， Gorres taught local farmers how to grow grapes and make world-class wines.

Wearing loose and faded overalls，Yu Tingbo， 70， chief director of grape cultivation at Norbert-Hans Vineyard， recalled in a strong eastern Shandong accent， “It was March 13， 2000， when two German experts came to Shanting to teach local farmers how to cultivate the grape saplings they had brought.” The vast farmland where the vineyard is located then began a trial period of growing foreign grape varieties.

When Gorres and Beu returned in late August 2000， they were satisfied with the overall cultivation situation and impressed with the hard work the farmers had put in. They had strictly followed their instructions； the saplings were flourishing.

Gao Zhenlou， a 63-year-old farmer in Xilu Village of Shanting， also a dab hand at grape planting， told us the trial saplings were initially grown in his field. Heavy machinery left in his field today is evidence of the remarkable story of two German experts and Shanting folk.

“In the spring of 2001， Gorres and Beu， both in their 70s， arrived at the trial farmland carrying two giant bags of saplings，” said Gao. German experts are distinctively strict and precise in every step. From the depth of each pit to the distance between two， everything has to be measured carefully.

Yu admired the way the two Germans worked with ease and dexterity despite their heavy frames and elderly complaints.

They introduced a new method of vine cultivation， which doubled the distance of grape clusters to the ground from 40 cm to 80 cm and intentionally dropped the output from 1，000 kg to 750 kg. This method sacrifices the yield， but gains high-quality produce since each bunch of grapes is exposed to more sunshine. Thus， popularity on the market increases.

During 17 trips to Shanting， the two German experts held 25 training sessions and 37 spot demonstrations， resolved difficulties and offered suggestions， benefitting more than 3，200 participants and greatly enhancing local farming.

Now， in Shanting District， over a 100，000 mu （1 hectare = 15 mu） of highquality grapes and cherries have been cultivated ， with an annual production of 14 million kilograms and an income of RMB 300 million for farmers. “I can earn more than RMB 100，000 in a year of good harvest，” Gao said.

“Currently， it is hard to find competi- tors for our saplings，” Yu said with pride.

Friendship through the Grapevine

As a product of Sino-German friendship， the Norbert-Hans Vineyard was established in 2006 in Shanting， together with the Hanro Winery Co.， Ltd. that runs the vineyard.

With an investment of RMB 220 million， the vineyard is now capable of producing 600，000 liters of wine and 200，000 liters of grape juice a year， representing a huge boost to the local economy. Wang Yunxiang， president of the company， told us， “Those German experts brought us everything， from seedlings to advanced equipment and essential technology. Moreover， the architecture of the winery was designed by Gorres and Beu， who often worked until midnight on empty stomachs.”

Wang Zhaoke， who is in charge of the viticulture technology， said he learned a lot from the two foreign experts. “Gorres was incredibly strict on the use of his family brand. To maintain the original taste and nutrition， the conventional 10 days of freezing is eliminated at the Norbert-Hans Vineyard.”

Before 2009， Gorres and Beu would visit Zaozhuang twice a year and bring 91 varieties of European fruit saplings. Finally， 16 varieties were chosen to be grown on Chinese soil， among which seven of the best were cultivated at the vineyard.

Gorres not only introduced his expertise， but also subsidized a number of impoverished students via the Project Hope in China， which offered them the opportunity to fulfill their dreams of going to college.

Just north of the Norbert-Hans Vineyard is Zaozhuangs No. 18 Middle School. There， teacher Ci Fuling told us， thanks to Gorres and Beu she was able to graduate from high school and go on to college. “I was about to quit school when these two ‘godfathers gifted RMB 4，000， a fabulous sum of money for me at that time.”

In all， eight students received a total of RMB 32，000 funding from the German friends.

During their visits， Gorres and Beu embraced the Chinese eating and drinking culture – the Chinese for “bottoms up” became their favorite toast. When asked about dining， they would always joke with locals that they preferred to eat noodles. Being long in form， noodles are a sort of symbol of friendship over long periods of time in Shanting， with the Chinese implication of chang lai chang wang（chang meaning “often”） as a good wish for friends to visit each other frequently.

In May 2009， aged 76， Gorres passed away on route to Romania where he was due to introduce viticulture technology to local farmers. Representatives of the Shanting government made a special trip to Gorres hometown in Germany to pay homage to his life. In 2010， he was given a posthumous Friendship Award by the Chinese government， the highest award for foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the countrys economic and social progress.

Aspiration of Two Generations

Thanks to the efforts of Gorres and Beu， the connection between Germany and China has been securely forged and cooperation has been passed on to the next generation.

Marc Linden， Gorres grandson， said he and his wife first visited the vineyard in August 2010 when the statue of his grandfather was erected. Linden took over the family winemaking business after his grandfather passed away in 2009. As well as the business， he also inherited his grandfathers mission as the technology expert for the Norbert-Hans Vineyard. He authorized it to use their family business label for free – Vineyard Sonnenberg – a famous German brand with more than 500 years of history.