Chang Bishi

The Chinese diplomat and businessman Cheong Fatt Tze or Tjong Tjen Hsoen (1840-1916) is mostly called under the romanized spelling Chang (Zhang) Bishi. He is considered to be the founder of modern viticulture in China. Due to the turmoil of the Second Opium War (1856-1862), he emigrated to Indonesia. After his marriage, he established a trading company for agricultural products such as rubber, coffee and tea with the help of his father-in-law. By establishing a bank, he became rich man. As Chinese consul in Singapore, he was summoned to China twice by the Emperor of China (Qing Dynasty) and subsequently promoted to Minister of Agriculture, Industry, Roads and Mines for Fujian and Guangdong provinces. In 1892, he founded a winery on the Shandong Peninsula in eastern China, the forerunner of today's Yantai Changyu multinational. The Austro-Hungarian consul Baron Max von Babo (1862-1933), son of the famous August-Wilhelm von Babo (1827-1894), was hired as advisor and cellar master. Due to his pioneering work for Chinese viticulture, a statue was erected in Yantai (picture below right).

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Chang Bishi

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