Huatianxiangzi, one of the best-selling rice wines on Taobao.[Photo provided to China Daily]

"Like cigars and chocolate, which both represent the culture of their countries of origin, I think rice wine has been well placed to represent China. I'm sure its light and sweet flavor would be favorably received everywhere. We want to promote rice wine and the Chinese lifestyle, even though sales of it in China are far lower than those of baijiu."

In 2016, the revenue from commercial sales of the white spirit baijiu was 613 billion yuan, the National Bureau of Statistics says.

Fan founded Huatianxiangzi in 2013 after spending several years trying to come up with an ideally flavored rice wine. One of his target markets is young people, he says, and of course he would be delighted if they made it their regular choice among wines and liquors.

Apart from selling Huatianxiangzi online, Fan says, he is selling it to outlets of the Metro chain all over China.