Water Wine Marks the Celebration of Marriage

During our visit to Menglian, China, we stumbled upon a Wa wedding and ended up witnessing one of the warmest kinds of hospitality I have seen, where even strangers were welcomed and treated with real respect. The Wa people have a saying, “no ceremony is complete without wine,” and in Wa communities, water wine is more than a drink. In parts of Lincang, it is called bulainong in the Wa language. Grains like corn, rice, sorghum, wheat, bitter buckwheat, red rice, and glutinous rice are mixed with a fermentation starter, left to ferment, then soaked with water and filtered before drinking. It appears in the moments that matter most, from welcoming guests and community discussions to weddings, funerals, festivals, and rituals, not just to celebrate, but to carry blessings, mark belonging, and honor life as it unfolds.