Quote:
Originally Posted by Locke
Locke would have left. I've fallen for this trap, you stick to the egg rolls and dumplings and just hammer the booze instead of the food.
Your stomach, your toilet and your intestinal tract will thank you! Your liver? Not so much. But in my experience as long as you're drinking then customs are well served.
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If you end up in a Chinese business drinking situation, if you try and match them in drinking room temp bai jiu, you might die before you catch up with them. They'll drink that stuff like fishes and barely be fazed.
Ask to drink cold beer and/or everyone to drink bai jiu that has been chilled and you might have a chance to survive. Somehow, they're not used to how fast cold liquor kicks in. It also makes it easier to make that request as a "cold blooded Canadian". It's also a good delay to use to slow down the rate of consumption, but requesting ice cold and then waiting for it. Of course, you have to consume it when it arrives.
Some of my friends who worked in Korean reported Koreans are seemingly similar with room temp soju, but at least soju is closer to the BAC of wine vs BAC of cask strength scotch for bai jiu. I don't believe cold beer will faze Korean business people as it might Chinese business people.
I honestly don't know why it's a thing and why adding cold temperature to booze can help to destroy those guys that drink like fish. My aunt who frequently goes from HK to mainland for work said it was her method of survival for drinking with those types of people. I'm pretty sure she mentioned that after she watched me downed two ice cold Hoengaarden beers within an hour. Seemed standard to me as a Canadian, but apparently business guys in the mainland would not have been able to keep up with that rate of drinking of cold alcohol.
