Although alcohol is one of the universal social lubricants of dining culture around the world, I've found that how it is used in China is very different to how it is used in my Australian homeland. In China, high and fast consumption leads to evenings that have a lot of team building, a lot of toasts, and a lot of fun. On the other hand, in Australia the choice of alcohol, and the customs associated with it, often leads to evenings that are not as much fun, but perhaps more intellectual.
In China, I've found that the custom is to drink a lot of baijiu in short periods of time. As a consequence, it has been very easy for me to get to those high levels of intoxication where I'm comfortable singing Shirley Bassey's Goldfinger, pulling up a female to dance the Tango, walking around to toast people, or posing for photos with friends, and feeling like they are my best mates in the world.
In Australia, however, I drink a lot of wine. Etiquette stipulates that it is taboo to skull, or "bottom-up" wine. To skull would be very disrespectful to the wine, as well as the guest that ordered or brought the wine.
As wine should never be skulled, it takes its admirers on a slower journey towards intoxication. Whereas in China I've started drinking about 7 PM and have been very drunk at 10 PM. In Australia, it was not until 1 AM that I've felt that my limit is near. By this time of the night, however, most people are getting ready for bed, and listening to me singing Goldfinger is the last thing on their mind.
As it takes me longer to get drunk in Australia, we fill the time with a lot of conversation. We might talk about the wine we are drinking, politics, other people's lives, ambitions, scientific theories, relationships or sex. The wine acts as a social lubricant so that I can speak freely, offer my ideas, or explore someone else's ideas.
In China, on the other hand, my conversations have often been interrupted with advice such as "less talk, more drink". A short time later, the tables are put away, the karaoke starts, and the fun begins.
Despite all the fun that I've had with Chinese dining culture, it does frustrate me a little. For one thing, I've found the nights drinking baijiu take a toll on my body. It really hasn't been since my teenage years that I've been so drunk that seeing becomes difficult. Aside from my physical concerns with binge drinking, sometimes I've wanted to have a serious conversation and felt that intoxication gets in the way of it.
I teach English to Chinese scholars, and they are on the cutting edge of Chinese thought. Because I'd love to pick their minds, it seems a bit of a waste to have a man who has worked on the Chinese space program sitting next to me, and instead of expanding my mind with the wisdom that he applied when reaching for the stars, the only thing he says is "bottoms up".
By Chad Swanson
(China Daily May 24, 2007)
