When Special Investigator Ding Gou'er arrives in the fictional province of Liquorland, the air reeks of coal and liquor. Tasked with investigating rumours that local officials are practising cannibalism, he transforms from observer to participant in the bacchanalian rounds of lavish banquets and intemperate drinking. Unable to keep up with Diamond Jin, an official with a notorious capacity for holding his drink, Ding falls into an intoxicated haze until the arrival of a new dish at the banquet table: a 'golden, incredibly fragrant little boy' which leads to an explosive and surreal series of events that test the limits of his sanity.
A true example of Mo Yan's 'hallucinatory realism,' The Republic of Wine is a tale of modern China's indulgence and corruption.