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DRINKING IN CHINA


‘Destructive drinking’ is an indispensable social ritual. Even if you don’t like to drink, you need to do it to give your business partners face and respect, and also to show them that you are honest and trustworthy.


“Gan Bei!” (“Bottoms Up!”) are the words used when making a toast in China. Drinks, usually Bai Jiu, or “white liquor”, a strong Chinese liquor, are the currency of the game.


Rice wine is probably the most traditional alcoholic drink in China. It is very strong, usually with 40-plus percent alcohol by volume.


Beer is also very popular in China, but local brands


are all very similar to each other, with none of the stronger or darker varieties brewed in the West produced locally.


Drinking is still a male custom, with male guests routinely offered alcoholic drinks and cigarettes at meal times.


DRINKING IN THE WEST


‘Destructive drinking’ is not a social ritual. A great deal of value is put on enjoying and savouring one’s drink.


Drinking games are not common among adults, unless they are in a party mood.


Rice wine is not produced in the West, but there are a wide variety of fortifi ed wines, which are stronger than regular wine, like sherry, Madeira wine or Port wine, to name a few.


Beer is very popular in the West, with different varieties brewed, including pale ale (the most common), stout, mild ale, wheat beer, lager and lambic, among others.


Drinking is no longer a male custom. Women are becoming very knowledgeable about the drinks they are consuming.


FIVE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT… CHOPSTICKS 1


Ok, you just love Chinese food, but don’t let that ruin your manners. At several restaurants, guests are served with two sets of chopsticks – one set to eat with and the other one to pick the food from the serving trays with. Don’t mix the two sets up.


3


There are a few conventions you need to observe when using chopsticks. For instance, don’t move your chopsticks around in the air too much or play with them. It is not polite.


5 4 2


In some areas of the mainland, wannabe grandparents offer chopsticks to their just- married offspring hoping for a grandson.


Don’t covet your neighbour’s jade, gold, bronze, brass, agate, coral, ivory and silver chopsticks. The bamboo chopsticks, besides being the most traditional, are also inexpensive, readily available, resistant to heat and odourless.


According to Chinese tradition, since knives could be used as a weapon, they could hurt peace and harmony during mealtime; so they were banned from the dining table in favour of chopsticks.


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