Drinking (Beer)

Sold by the large bottle, sometimes a tad too warm or only slightly chilled during the summer months from local shops, the leading brand ‘Tsingdao’ (pronounced 'Ching-Dao' –originally a German brew) is sold everywhere.

Most provinces have their favourite brands though. In some provinces all you’ll see is Yangjing Beer, some others it's Snow, other provinces love Harbin (named after the Northern Chinese city, Harbin). But our champion, probably the best of the lot, is Xinjiang’s Wusu beer. Most of these will set you back about 8-9RMB in a local shop. Increasingly, foreign bottles will go for 15-25RMB in local shops. Restaurants slightly higher in cost. The best thing about these bottles? They are all 1 litre! Yep. Beer, for the size of the bottle, is quite cheap, if a Chinese brand.

A bottle can jump to 30-50RMB or thereabouts in flashy bars and nightclubs. Draught beer machines are increasingly common and usually pretty good, but do occasionally taste watered down. There is probably a small, funky craft beer bar near you in China. These are far more expensive, served draught and have a variety of interesting and sometimes bizarre flavours.

At outdoor/street food night-markets, a very common feature of Chinese cities, simpler places will supply disposable, cheap, plastic cups in holders, which sometimes leak and dribble up your arm. In bars or outdoors eating areas you will usually pay at the end, though this can vary, and in nightclubs you will always pay upfront. It is customary to share the bottles with all friends topping up all glasses after each refill (drinking solely from your own bottle is considered a tad selfish or just unfriendly). Expect cigarettes and some kebabs (shaokao) too. You'll also sometimes see beer towers on tables, which is a nice communal method of sharing the beer with friends (pictured).

Often, every time you drink you should toast to all, which makes the process of slow sipping become a hardened activity of downing small glasses of beer for much of the night. Each toast is called a ‘gam-bay (gambei)’ (a down in one) or you can opt for a ‘pang-bay’ (just a little). Gambays are the norm and it is a great sign of respect to those you are toasting with. If you get too much head (froth) in your small plastic cup on filling up, one technique, which may sound mad, is to place a wooden chopstick upright in the centre of your cup which can reduce the froth slightly. Sometimes, the Chinese are hugely inventive with the basic things around them.

Either way, drinking out is a very pleasant experience during the summer evening months. The Chinese are not big daytime drinkers though, so don’t expect many bars open throughout the day, even at weekends. There are restaurants and shops where you can easily buy a bottle or two though and sit outside. Also, the Chinese work so hard during the day that there simply isn’t any demand for daytime drinking establishments.

One thing is for sure; you’re going to have a tough time finding high quality, imported draught beer (fresh from a bar-side pump) outside Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong at local shops and bars - unless you like Budweiser. Venture into your city or town centre for bar options and proper draught beer. Finding such delights, as draught Guinness, can be a challenge but not impossible.

The final place to consider getting beers or other drinks, is at the bar of one of the premium hotels. Very expensive but certainly a nice change of scenery, often accompanied with a live music band (from the Philippines) in delightful surrounds. You can pay in excess of 100RMB for a pint of draught beer (which still could just be Tsingdao).

Lastly, a note on the law. It is not acceptable or allowed to drink on public transport. That said, almost everywhere is allowed. Bars usually close at 2am, clubs much later. But drinking seems acceptable outside a small shop with a metal bench, in the street, in a taxi and almost everything to be honest. In fact, I have to say that China is far more free in this area than many other countries I have visited in my life! You see? The stereotypes are to be busted.

If you prefer red or white wine, or cocktails and other types of mixed drinks, you can often find some outstanding, beautifully decorated bars in commercial areas or clustered together downtown in every city. A word of warning about Western wine, sometimes it says "imported" but in actual fact, it is not, or sources of it are dubious. Buy from reputable shops that usual sell wine. Check the labels. It's one area that we should still exercise caution. These are not necessary 'fake' but are horrendously mislabelled. You can usually tell when it's tasteless or resembles vinegar.

Chinese people love eating and snacking while drinking... check out our FOOD section