So the drink culture is just as complicated as the dining culture, as learn from a culture lesson by CRCC Asia. From what I can gather there are two main types of alcohol consumed here, Baijou which is Chinese rice vodka and Pijiu which is Chinese beer.
Baijou can range in strength from 40% – 60% and can range in price dependant on the quality, the lower the quality the lesser the taste. Chinese beer is surprisingly nice, unlike British beer it is very light and roughly 3%, it is recommended to drink Pijiu unless you are a strong drinker. Other types of alcohol are available but you must be aware of ‘fake’ alcohol that exists here.
It is typical to have more than one alcoholic beverage when dining, however try to avoid drinking alcohol unless you’re toasting someone or something. Now toasts, that’s a different kettle of fish. When toasting someone “Gan Bei” is the phrase for “cheers” however you must try to clink under the rim of their glass and maintain eye contact, the lower the part of their glass you can get the more respect you show.
Now if you thought that was hard enough, once you have finished a drink you must turn your glass upside down in the air to show that you have finished, BUT if you finish the drink before you’re superior you must cover your glass and wait until they have finished before showing you have finished.
Apparently, Asian people are missing an enzyme that enables them to break down consumed alcohol and they turn pink when they are drunk. I can say that I have witnessed this pink-face as there is a malaysian guy called Dominic who turns pink when he is drunk! So it seems British people can hold their drink better.
