Ganbei!

Anyone who’s been to China on official business has experienced the legendary banquets that involve vast amounts of drinking.  When I worked on Capitol Hill, I went on an official trip to the region.  At one dinner with government officials, we began the toasts after the meal.  The toast began with rice wine and moved on to whiskey.  Repeated shouts of “gan bei!,” which means “empty glass,” were followed by complete downing of whatever was in your glass.  In the end, one of the government officials had to be carried to his car by his driver.

Apparently, there are an increasing number of casualties from this kind of behavior.  Today’s China Daily reports on some deaths from the “Gan bei” culture.

One official is dead and a second is in a coma after drinking excessive amounts of alcohol at boozy banquets…..

Professor Li Chengyan, of the school of government at Peking University, said ritualized drinking is deeply ingrained in the relationships between government officials.

“Drinking with official guests or other officials at alcohol-soaked events is considered part of the job,” he said, adding that a banquet was a mandatory exercise to welcome VIPs and was usually covered by public funds.

Here is another example of how China is a couple of generations behind us in business practices.  See the TV program “Mad Men,” for dramatic depictions about the way it used to be.

Remember the “three martini lunch?”