Ganbei

The first week I was here we were invited to a dinner with the coaching staff, GM and President of the Tigers team. They took us to this beautiful country club nearby. The neighborhood reminded me of a wealthy Californian neighborhood with massive homes on rolling hills. I almost felt back home, almost...

We are seated at a traditional Chinese table; It is a massive round table with a large lazy susan in the middle. These types of tables are very common in China. Unlike America, the Chinese order a number of dishes and everyone at the table will share each dish. You turn the lazy susan clockwise and grab the food that you want and add it to your plate. It is very impolite to turn the lay susan counter-clockwise to grab food that has already passed you; you must wait until it comes back around. I have never seen more food in my life! We had a feast!! We had everything ranging from jellyfish to wonderful meats. It was absolutely delicious!

The one thing that threw me off were the number of glasses in front of me. I had a drinking glass, a wine glass, a shot glass, and a small pouring glass. I was already intimidated by the company who invited me so I was doing everything possible not to mess up. Adrian, a Chinese translator, was seated to my right; he told me to just pay attention to everyone and to always cheers down. Down?!? We always raise our glass and say "Cheers!". In China it is important that you always cheers below the person that has invited you to dinner. It is a sign of disrespect to cheers above them; they are more important that you! I have provided a list of Chinese "rules" to Gainbei-ing, or Cheer-sing, properly:

Drinking in China – Some Rules for Ganbei-ing.

1. Rule number one has to be – don’t be tricked into drinking more than you feel comfortable with. A Chinese friend may try to drink a lot more than he is able to consume so as not to lose face in front of you. Usually (and I put emphasis on this word) they will watch you closely to begin with to determine the pace you want to set.

2. There are two main types of alcohol consumed at meals in China – Baijiu 白酒 (strong spirits often made from rice) and Pijiu 啤酒 (beer). Baijiu can be anything from 38% to 60%+ proof so it is advisable to stick to beer unless you are a strong drinker. If someone toasts you with baijiu it is very impolite for you to then drink with beer, likewise it would be strange for you to drink baijiu if someone toasts you with beer.

3. If your drinking partner who moves to clink glasses with you is superior to you in some way (be it age or position in a company etc.), it is deemed polite for you to clink his/her glass with the rim of yours below theirs.

4. Another important though often overlooked form of drinking etiquette is for you to maintain eye contact with the person you are toasting while you are drinking – though this can be slightly awkward at times.

5. After a glass has been drained Chinese people will often extend the empty glass to you so that you can see that they have in fact finished their drink.

6. Beware of people toasting you with tea and expecting you to drink alcohol – despite what many Chinese who try to convince you otherwise might say, there is no rule saying that you have to toast with anything other than what your “opponent” is drinking – except if they are very old (65+)

7. Chinese Huaquan (划拳) is a rather complicate drinking game – try to find a patient Chinese friend to take you through the rules. The term however is now used as a sort of umbrella word for all drinking games.

8. If you are seated around a large table with a Lazy Susan in the middle, it is common for you to simply tap the edge of the Lazy Susan with the bottom of your glass when toasted to avoid the difficulty of having to stretch across a wide table to clink glasses.

9. It is essential during a meal that you personally toast the person who is paying and sputter out a few words of appreciation. People will be offended if you don’t do this. The person who is paying will usually be the person who invited you out. However if in doubt, watch closely and wait until the bill is paid, it is quite acceptable for you to then toast that person.

10. If there are old people dining with you, be sure to also toast them each at least once.

Needless to say, the end of the dinner was quite a sight. Everyone had glass-after-glass of wine. I learned the hard way to only fill a sip of my glass, rather than an entire glass of wine when Ganbei-ing with the Chinese. When I return I will be sure to share this experience with you, get ready!

(Rules provided by http://www.beijingmadeeasy.com/beijing-society/chinese-drinking-rules).