The students in China learning and talking about wine on WeChat
A group called Wine in University, which has close to 7,000 followers across China, meets using smartphone app, which makes it easy to hear expert talks and to chat about wine with fellow enthusiasts
Tencent’s WeChat might be known as a popular messaging app with a built-in wallet function, but for a group of young wine enthusiasts in China, it has become an effective educational tool, too.
Wine in University, an association for students from 28 tertiary education institutions across China, has been using the app to connect with experts in the field to learn more about the subject. The group meets up over its chat channel regularly and members use the voice messaging function to discuss topics from the production and branding of wines to running a wine business to what it is like being a sommelier.
It has now close to 7,000 followers on its WeChat account, while each chat session has a capacity of up to 500 members.
“We have members from all over the country who are enthusiastic in learning about wine, and WeChat is a great tool for them to interact with wine experts.” says Ted Zhang, who heads Wine in University and studies oenology at Northwest A&F University in Xianyang, Shaanxi province.
“Almost everyone in China has the WeChat app on their smartphone.”