八月的汾阳，名酒汇聚，酒香四溢。8月23日，2019(山西·杏花村)比利时布鲁塞尔国际烈性酒大奖赛举行开幕式并正式开赛，大奖赛吸引来自59个国家和地区的1748款酒品参赛，创历史之最。汾酒集团党委书记、董事长李秋喜在开幕上致辞，全文如下：
秋高气爽，美酒飘香。今天是中国农历二十四节气当中的“处暑”，标志着炎热的夏天已经过去，硕果累累的秋天正在到来。在这样一个充满收获的季节里，第20届比利时布鲁塞尔国际烈性酒大赛花落山西汾阳杏花村，在接下来的三天比赛时间里，来自全球59个国家和地区的1750种烈酒相聚于此，展示风采，角逐桂冠。在此，我代表汾酒集团万名员工，向前来参加本届大赛的各位来宾和朋友们表示热烈欢迎！并向来自世界各地的大赛评委、以及为此次活动付出巨大努力的北京国际酒类交易所各位同仁，致以诚挚敬意和衷心感谢！
On this invigorating autumn day, the wine fragrance is teemed everywhere. Today is the Limit of Heat in the 24 solar terms of the Chinese Lunar Calendar, signaling the end of hot summer and the arrival of fruitful autumn. In such a harvest season, the 20th Spirits Selection by Concours Mondialde Bruxelles took place in Xinghua Village, Fenyang, Shanxi Province. In the next three days, 1,750 spirits from 59 countries and regions around the world gathered here to show their styles and compete for the title. Here, on behalf of the 10,000 employees of Fenjiu Group, I would like to extend a warm welcome to all the guests and friends who have come to participate in this competition! I would like to express my sincere respect and heartfelt thanks to the judges from all over the world and the colleagues of Beijing International Wine & Spirit Exchange who have made great efforts for this event!
众所周知，地处山西省吕梁市的酒都杏花村，历来物产丰饶，人杰地灵，是公认的中国白酒发源地。在杏花村这片神奇的热土上，曾经发掘出中国最早的酒器——小口尖底瓮，可追溯到6000多年前的仰韶文化时期。作为中国名酒的杰出代表，汾酒有着悠久的酿造历史，深厚的文化底蕴和卓越的清香品质，当今中国大部分的白酒，都与汾酒有着千丝万缕的技艺传承关系。所以，汾酒被誉为“中国白酒产业的奠基者、传承中国白酒文化的火炬手、中国白酒酿造技艺的教科书、见证中国白酒发展历史的活化石”，是“国酒之源、清香之祖、文化之根”，是名副其实的“中国酒魂”。
As we all know, the wine capital of Xinghua Village, Lüliang City, Shanxi Province, has always been a fertile land with outstanding people, and is recognized as the birthplace of Chinese liquor. In the attractive land of Xinghua Village, small-porthole cuspate-bottom vat, the earliest Chinese wine container was unearthed, dating back to the Yangshao culture period more than 6,000 years ago. As an outstanding representative of Chinese famous wines, Fenjiu has long history of brewing, profound cultural heritage and excellent aroma quality. Most Chinese spirits are inextricably linked with Fenjiu in term of technique. Therefore, Fenjiu is known as the founder of the Chinese liquor industry, the torchbearer who inherits the Chinese liquor culture, the textbook of Chinese brewing skills, the living fossil witnessing the history of Chinese liquor development. It is also the source of Chinese liquor, the originator of mild-flavor liquor, and the root of Chinese wine culture, and lives up to the reputation of the essence of Chinese liquor.
一百年前，汾酒走向世界；一百年后，世界回到汾阳。在1915年美国旧金山举办的巴拿马万国博览会上，杏花村汾酒承载着中华文明数千年延绵不绝的清香，远渡重洋，走出国门，一举荣获博览会最高奖——甲等大奖章，让世界认识了汾酒。这一百年来，以汾酒等名酒为代表的中国白酒产业，对国际化探索的步伐从未停歇，我们以高度的历史使命感，用卓越的中国品质对标世界标准，以独一无二的历史文化传承，赢得了世界的尊重和认同。一百多年后的今天，作为世界十大烈性酒产区之一的吕梁市，成功申办第20届比利时布鲁塞尔国际烈性酒大赛，创造了烈酒大赛自1999年创办以来参赛品种最多、参赛国家最多、参赛人员最多的新纪录。借此机会，我们要向布鲁塞尔国际酒类大奖赛的创办者路易·哈弗先生、烈性酒大奖赛组委会主席卜度安·哈弗先生表示衷心感谢！
One hundred years ago, Fenjiu went global; one hundred years later, the globe returned to Fenyang. At the Panama-Pacific International Exposition held in San Francisco in 1915, Xinghua Village liquors crossed the ocean with lingering aroma of Chinese civilization of thousands of years, and won the highest prize of the Exposition, Gold Plated Bronze Medal of Award (Grand prize). Since then, the world began to know Fenjiu. In the past one hundred years, the Chinese liquor industry represented by Fenjiu has never stopped exploring the pace of internationalization. With high sense of historical mission, we used the superior Chinese quality to benchmark the world standard and won respect and recognition of the world with unique historical culture inheritance. Today, more than one hundred years later, Lüliang City, one of the world's top ten spirit producing regions, successfully bid for the 20th Spirits Selection by Concours Mondialde Bruxelles, and has attracted the most varieties, the most participating countries and the most participants since founding of the spirits competition in 1999. By this opportunity, I would like to express heartfelt thanks to Mr. Louis Harvard, founder of the Spirits Selection by Concours Mondialde Bruxelles, and Mr. Buduen Haval, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Spirits Selection by Concours Mondialde Bruxelles!
“借问酒家何处有，牧童遥指杏花村”，这首写于1200多年前中国晚唐时期的诗歌，正因为有了汾酒的滋养和传承，至今仍然被广为传颂。在中国传统文化当中，男性20岁称之为“弱冠之年”，女性20岁称之为“桃李年华”，这是一生中最美好的年纪。今天，布鲁塞尔国际烈酒大赛也正好是20岁，我们衷心希望它能够有一个更加美好的未来。
"Where can a winehouse be found to drown his sadness? A cowherd points to Xinghua Village in the distance." These lines written in the late Tang Dynasty in China more than 1,200 years ago is still widely read because of the nourishment and inheritance of Fenjiu. In traditional Chinese culture, boy of 20 years old are called "the year of crown", and girl of 20 years old are called "the year of peach and plum". 20 years old is the best age in one’s lifetime. Today, the Spirits Selection by Concours Mondialde Bruxelles is also exactly 20 years old. We sincerely hope that it will have a better future.
活动期间，吕梁人民的热情好客和汾酒的清香典雅，一定能够带给大家最亲切、最独特、最难忘的体验。再过一个月，第三届山西（汾阳·杏花村）世界酒文化博览会也将在这里召开，欢迎大家再次前来参观交流。最后，预祝各位参赛选手取得满意成绩，预祝大赛取得圆满成功！
During the event, the Lüliang people's hospitality and the aroma and elegance of Fenjiu will surely bring you the most intimate, unique and memorable experience. Next month, the 3rd Shanxi (Fenyang·Xinghuacun) World Wine Culture Expo will also be held here. Welcome everyone to gather here again for further visit and exchange. Finally, I wish all participants a satisfactory result and wish the competition a complete success!