Sake is too darn complicated!!! You have to really be good to get it to taste right.
Chinese rice wines are easy. You basically boil rice untill it is goo, let it sit covered by a cloth a few days, and mix in mushed up Plumbs and the juice from them. Then just seal in a container that has been almost topped off with water for a few months.
That is it, and it's strong as all hell too!!
I have been distilling it in my freezer as well, so I get a Chinese white lightning!!
I also think the Chinese recipes taste better. They have a number of different fruits and herb combinations added to them for quite a large variety.
I generally make mine for making Chinese herbal medicines used in martial arts.