Young cosmopolitans trying to handle the stress of modern life are more and more turning to the bottle. But the name on the bottle isn't Jack, Jim or even Jose: It's vinegar. Used as a condiment in Chinese cuisine for well over 3,000 years and long acknowledged as an all-purpose elixir, vinegar has started to catch the attention of a whole new generation of fans. But this time around, fashionable young people from Shanghai to Xi'an are having their vinegar served not with a spoon, but with a maraschino cherry.

　　Most historians agree that vinegar, the product of oxidized alcohol, was invented (or stumbled upon) quite by accident. Intentional or not, vinegar and its various medicinal virtues have been venerated for thousands of years; as early as the eighth century BC, there is evidence of vinegar brewing in Shanxi province. Almost immediately, vinegar was recognized as a capable combatant of high blood pressure, weight gain and even hair loss.

　　The tried-and-true tonic is now back in vogue, but in a more refined form: the cocktail. A careful, non-alcoholic mix of special fruit-based vinegars, fresh fruit juices, water and syrups, the vinegar cocktail has been developed in a variety of flavors, each targeted at a specific bodily function or ailment. There are cocktails to boost the immune system, help remove toxins from the blood strain, and even increase beauty.

　　This cocktail craze has caught on: Entire bars are now devoted to serving exotic variations of this potent elixir. The first vinegar bar opened in fad-happy Shanghai last year after rumors spread that vinegar was linked to SARS prevention. Since then, young entrepreneurs hoping to catch the wave of the latest craze have opened their own vinegar bars in Xi'an, Nanjing, Fuzhou and Hefei. Check your local listings for a bar near you. Gan bei! - Duncan Willson