Nowadays how do Chinese behave when drinking？
2 min readTraditionally，Chinese drink wine only when eating.It is believed that alcohol should be consumed slowly to enhance the pleasure.Drinking in China has long been associated，moreover，with establishing new friendships or personal，political orbusiness relations.When drinking，Chinese often play drinking games.The goal is not to get drunk，but for fun.The aim is to heighten drinking atmosphere.
Typically，Chinese do not frequent western-style bars，and public drunkenness rouses look of disapproval and displeasure from others.
At a friendly meal or dinner party，the host is permitted to merely sip his or her drink-or not drink at all-in order to stay sober and properly manage the party.Hosts may also choose to join their guests in drinking if they are still able to take care of the banquet’s duties.
Ganbei is a popular toast term in China，which means“empty your glass”or”bottom up.”Guests may respond to the host by calling for a ganbei toast.Women，particularly if they are not important guests of the party，are generally excused from the ganbei ritual.Of course if the host or some other party member proposes a “sip”toast，anyone in the party can still go”bottoms up.”When toasted，it is especially polite to follow suit，usually during the banquet.Drinking in China expresses interest or pleasure during the dinner party，but also demonstrates prowess，particularly among males.
A common saying goes，”If you respect each other，drink up your wine；if you don’t respect less，just sip .”As the host drinks first，sometimes he will turn his cup upside down to show there’s no wine in his cup.After this，the guests will also finish the wine in their cups.The more the guests drink，the happier the host is，so refusing to drink is regarded as impoliteunless you have a good reason such as high blood pressure，an upset stomach，etc.In this case，joining the toast with water or soft drink is acceptable.Another popular way of limiting the amount you drink is not to fill your cup or glass to the top.
