Raise a Glass to My Ngie Goong's Memory

Ngu Ga Pi wine was sold in the general stores of Sibu in the 1930's and 40's and even during the Japanese Occupation while stocks last.

My mother as a teenager was often sent by her father to buy a bottle which then only cost 50 cents.

Wujiapi wine originated from the "Compendium of Materia Medica" of Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty. According to the old master, wujiapi it is a bark of the Eleutherococcus . It is a herb used in traditional Chinese medicine to eliminate "wind-dampness". Hence it is recogised to provide health benefits, good for bones, resilience and long life. Wujiapi can be found in Guangzhou, Tianjin, Zhejiang etc.

According to some records, the Emperor Qianlong travelled southwards with Huang Taiyi who arranged for wujiapi to cure Yongzheng's illnesses.

Also, the leather wine seal indicates that wujiapi is a royal wine. It was Huang Taiyi who in 1795 opened a drug store and brought the royal wine to the public for their consumption.

These could be the ingredients of the wujiapi wine (wikipedia)
 0.6g Codonopsis, 0.7g Chenpi, 0.8g Muxiang, 2g Wujiapi, 1g Poria, 0.7g Chuanxiong, 0.5g cardamom kernels, 1g safflower, 1g angelica, 2g yuzhu 1 gram, 22 grams of gardenia, 22 grams of red yeast rice, 0.7 grams of green peel, 4 grams of caramel, 500 grams of caster sugar, 35 grams of cinnamon, 0.5 grams of cooked ground, and 5000 grams of deodorant alcohol.