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Q: Why do Chinese insist on drinking up beer glasses?
Each time I am with Chinese, eating and drinking, or just drinking, they insist that we all drink up our glasses every time....Makes my belly awfully full in 10 minutes. I especially find this ridiculous when it's done over a meal - Five minutes into lunch/dinner, someone 'toasts' with me and insists, ah, no, actually orders, that I drink up my full glass. I always find this bizarre and a little silly as I end up giving up the food in front of me just because of the beers in my stomach. How do I deal with this without refraining from drinking with Chinese altogether? And just curious: is this way of drinking normal for westerners? ( I am not a westerner)
11 years 31 weeks ago in General - Other cities
I am English and no we don't normally drink like this.
I hate it also, and as you say it just gets too much over a meal.
Now i just drink as i would in the UK, if i want a drink, then i will have a drink, and i dont always toast everyone, i just drink, if they try and insist i drink when they toast everyone, if i have had enough i just politely say no, or just carry on eating.
Just drink at your own pace is the best answer i can give, if it is the same people you drink with on a regular basis, then they will come to understand, and they wont be offended.
Maybe it is custom.Chinese think it is respect you so that they will drink up.If you can not drink so much.you can tell those people.you can drink a little as requite.I have meet the same thing many times.i will tell then firstly and drink a little.they will understand me.
I find in China it is a combination of comradery and metaphorically measuring dicks.
This is simply the way they drink. Only drink when toasted...and try to get the guest drunk.
It only works when the hosts can drink more than the guests (and the game is stacked in the their favour as long as the entire table keeps standing up and gun bai ing you one by one).
Drinking amongst men in China is like fighting...always a competition.
But when you get used it it is not that bad and even fun sometimes...depending on the company.
First 1-2 shots you can drink full. Then say "Yīdiǎn" (一点) for every toast.
It works for me.
In Australia we don't drink like that.
A lot of us drink heavily, but not the whole glass at one time - that completely defeats the purpose of drinking to enjoy the taste of something. Granted, with a lot of Chinese beers, it's probably best to get it over with quickly .
this might be a bit of a harsh answer,,,, but you are going to have to learn to say 'No'. It can actually be fun after a while, telling them 'no thanks' to gan bei, no thanks to cigs, no thanks to shit food u don't like, no thanks to rent-a-girls at KTV. If they don't like hearing 'No', and they lose their silly Face, then fcuk them and the horse they rode in on...
American parents in the 70's always told their kids something to the effect of 'if your friend jumps off a bridge, are you gonna jump off too?'. What they were educating us about is, you have to learn to stand up for yourself and do what is right for you. End of story.
And to answer your question, no, slamming beer/booze is not normal anywhere. it is idiots who engage in that behavior mostly due to some weird imaginary competition, 'I'm a big man' thing. A sure sign of a mental midget.
Bona:
You are right.....I simply have to learn to make it a 'stern' NO....Most of the times, the guys I am with don't seem to understand a NO. Sucks! Really sucks!!!
beacause standard toast in China is "gambei" (I don't know how to write it correctly)
what basically means "bottom up"
use smaller glass
many Chinese uses vine glasses for bear - do the same 
Createach:
it's ganbei and damn i like that part of the meal...........does the effect of alcohol in an hour or two....now that's what i call getting drunk..........beer here gets me drunk more than whiskey when ganbei's are involved
i hate being forced t do anything when it comes to china, in the night club they made down a bottle of beer and few min later i they made me down a glass of wisky and i threw up right away hahahahah
I only do that at official dinners, the rest of the time I just drink it out of the bottle like I would at home.
