In 1983, China was a different place, and people thought Michael Parry was crazy. An English who owned a wine importing business and two wine bars in Hong Kong, Parry became convinced that mainland China could produce premium wines. He decided that the Shandong peninsula, outside Qingdao (the city famous for its green-bottle beer, Tsingtao), had the terroir to make stylish whites. He was met with baffled expressions from Qingdao city officials, but he persevered, eventually securing permission to build a chateaulike complex there, 300 miles southeast of Beijing. He named it Huadong, or Magnificent East.

"I always wanted to make wine," Parry told Wine Spectator in 1987. "You get caught up in the romanticism and then you find out later that things are not that easily done." Parry had to deal with the bureaucracy of the Chinese government, poorly trained workers, and grape farmers who did not understand why this insane Westerner wanted them to reduce yields in their vineyards.
 
Things quickly went from bad to worse. Parry imported vines from Europe, but a typhoon destroyed most of his plantings a year later. Still, he managed to produce 1,000 cases of Chardonnay in 1987. And by the time Parry died from cancer in 1991, his estate was known for its Chardonnays and Rieslings. His ashes were scattered over his vineyards.
 
Today, Parry's dream has blossomed. Huadong, situated under the gloriously named Nine Dragon Hill and now jointly owned by foreign investors and a state-owned firm, is currently undergoing expansion in anticipation of boom times ahead. Last year, it produced 350,000 cases,  three-and-a-half times what it was making just a decade ago.