There’s a few flushed faces in the room as China’s national firewater is downed in tiny gulps. It has a BANG the baijiu virgins aren’t expecting. Bloggers, Instagrammers and the curious are crammed into the elegant Moutai Baijiu showroom in Sydney’s Chinatown. We’re listening to marketing managers Imogen Hayes and Ed Xian explain the 2000-year-old art of making and drinking the colourless liquor which is at least 40% proof. It might be China’s most loved alcohol, but baijiu isn’t well known to drinkers in the west. Free tasting workshops aim to widen its appeal in Australia.