Drinking Vessels, including drinking containers and drinking utensils, is the most primitive carrier of alcohol culture.Like tea wares, drinking vessels have a long history as a part of Chinese alcoholic culture. Drinking sets evolved hand in hand with the stages of Chinese cultural development. 

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Bronze Drinking Vessels
According to historical records and archeological evidence, there were dozens of types of vessels excluding the cups we use today. The earthen wares archeologists discovered in Shaanxi province in 1983 were authenticated to be the oldest drinking vessels revealed in China. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, bronze vessels were popular in the north while porcelain vessels with carved figures were introduced in the south.

The Bronze Drinking Vessels, called Jue,  became the fashion during the Shang Dynasty (16th -11th century BC), and these took on four different forms: there were those that were used for heating their contents, those that would contain a quantity of wine for serving such as jugs or flagons, actual drinking vessels, and those that were used for storage. As well as basic designs there were those that were quite elaborate and which were a symbol of social status.

Those were produced in the shapes of the tiger, elephant, rhinoceros, ox or sheep, etc. something that demonstrates the high standards of manufacturing skills that had been attained at the time.

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Golden & Silver Drinking Vessels
Later in the Qin and Han dynasties, glass and whelk vessels appeared, and gold and silver cups decorated the lavish banquets of the despots. Drinking vessels became more delicate and tasteful during the Northern and Southern dynasties since drinking was an intellectual activity during that time.

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Pottery & porcelain Drinking Vessels
Vessels developed further during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, from pottery to porcelain with thin coat of enamel. During the Sui and Tang Dynasty porcelain pots and cups were common. 

The design of porcelain vessels produced during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) surpassed any that had gone before and they were much smaller and more delicate. This material continued to be used until the Ming and Qing Dynasty. The bowls and stoups with their blue and white flower patterns were quite an art.

After the Song Dynasty, drinking vessels had evolved into a big family consisting of porcelain, bronze, tin, gold, silver, and cloisonne vessels and vessels made of rhinoceros horn. Chinese drinking vessel won a lot of praise from great poets like Li Bai, Wang Changling and Wang Han who all wrote poems about liquors of taste and vessels of finesse.

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In modern China, due to the continuous development of social economy, a wide variety of alcohol vessels have been produced. 

Luminous Cup

As a kind of alcohol set, the Luminous Cup is made of jade produced at Qilian Mountain. It is said that in this cup the liquid looks like blood and reflects moonlight.

Moonlight luminous cup is authorized to use the Chinese Geographic Trademark.The jade used to make the cup is also a local specialty that comes in three colors - ink, green and yellow. Jade of all the three colors can make sound raw material for luminous cups. Dark as night, green as emerald, and white as lanolin, luminous cups have distinctive natural patterns. Thanks to the high tolerance to heat and cold, these cups are ideal to serve hot and cold drinks.

In 2006, Jiuquan Luminous Cup Carving was listed among the first batch of National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China for protection. In the following year, the Ministry of Culture designated Huang Yuesu as a national representative successor of the national-level intangible cultural heritage project - "Luminous Cup Carving".

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