Jiupin - Chinese drinking manners

A person invited to a meal must arrive in time. Those who are late are being ``punished'' with several drinks. Women can make some witty excuse. But men must except the ``punishment''.

When making a toast a person says ``ganbei'' (``dry the glass''). It does not always mean one has to drink bottom up. But to be on the safe side you better do it as many would regard you as a wimp. People who always drink bottom have ``jiudan'' or ``drinking bravery''.

There are several types of alcoholic beverage available in China. The first type is ``pijiu'' or ``beer''.

Popular alcohol drinks with alcohol content of up to 20% are called ``huangjiu'' (``yellow wine''). These sweet drinks are made of various types of grains like rice or wheat for example. Beverages with alcohol content of above 40% are those known as the ``baijiu'' (``white drink'') or ``shaojiu''.

Huangiju

If in company you have to drink the same kind of drink drank by the person making a toast. Doing otherwise would be regarded as bad manners. What's more it is expected that when attending a meal in a restaurant you also make a toast to a person paying the meal. In this toast you express gratitude to that person.

If there are elderly people having a meal making a toast for each one of them or maybe group them in for example couples. A woman can decide not to participate in every toast held during meal. She can even ask someone to replace her.

A place when one touches other person's glass during making toast is also important. How it is done? Well, let's imagine that the other person is older than you. The rim of your glass should touch the other one below it. Like in most other nations people in China look each other straight into their eyes when making a toast.

Ganbei

When drinking with someone it is possible to play various games. Here is one example of the game played by the Chinese. It is the Common Jiuling. It is a simple game that can be played by two or more people. You only need a dice. Imagine what number you will roll. Then roll your dice. If you guessed right you do nothing. Otherwise you have to take a drink.

Being drunk after a meal is not a bad thing. For some hosts sober people mean that the whole social event was not organized properly. Still you can always say that drivers must not drink. A woman in Chinese society is not expected to drink much so they have an extra excuse. When offered a drink at the beginning of the meal it is perfectly fine to refuse drink too. But changing one's mind afterwards would be impolite.

References

Chinese drinking rules
http://www.beijingmadeeasy.com/beijing-society/chinese-drinking-rules

A Westerner's guide to Chinese drinking culture
http://matadornetwork.com/nights/a-westerners-guide-to-chinese-drinking-culture/

Huangjiu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huangjiu

Baijiu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baijiu

Chinese Drinking Habits
http://www.lovelovechina.com/entertainment/chinese-drinking-habits/

Chinese New Year 2015: Top 5 Best Drinking Games
http://heavy.com/social/2015/02/chinese-new-year-drinking-game-rules-ideas/

Images

Huangjiu (photo by Hideya Hamano, Flickr)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mawari/11665537436/in/photolist-iLQVRN-7wxDne

Ganbei (photo by myjedilightsaber, Flickr)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/myjedilightsaber/5259917007/in/photolist-5JeDcZ-5wtLES-91Ns5g-5mv6Ru