Foreigners can't overdrink with Chinese people law. What's with this?

[Hero Doug]

I just read a contract, and in the contract is says that Chinese government has made some new regulations regarding foreigners.

One of these regulations states that foreigners are free to mix with Chinese people, but they can't overdrink when they do so, for their own personal safety.

I have never heard of such a law, and I'm actually quite surprised to hear of it. It takes away a freedom at a time when China is gaining freedoms.

This contract is from Hunan should that make a difference.

I'm not looking to debate how enforcable the law is, I'm just wondering if anyone has heard of it?

[roddy]

There is no such law. Potentially some backwater PSB or foreign experts bureau has attempted to make up some local regulation, but even that I doubt. Is there a Chinese version of this?

[imron]

Be thankful for it. Next time you're having dinner with Chinese and they try to make you drink, you can tell them it's against the law.

P.S. Not sure if it's a real law or not, but doubt it.

[gougou]

It takes away a freedom at a time when China is gaining freedoms.

Tried getting a visa recently?

[liuzhou]

When I lived in Hunan (1997-1999) there was a law which said that foreigners must overdrink. I'm sure there must have been!

[Hero Doug]

Well, I've just been getting Z-Visas, so I haven't had to deal with it too much. But I was talking more about personal freedoms ;)

Yeah, I was really kind of taken aback when I read this. To me it seems like they had a problem with one person who drank too much, and now it's in the contrac that you can't drink too much.

I only have the English version of the contract, so for now there's no Chinese. I just wanted to see if anyone else has heard of this or not.

[roddy]

Ask them for one hundred and thirty nine previous offenses to be taken into consideration . . .

Depending on how annoying you want to be, either just sign it and ignore the thing, or tell them that your Chinese lawyer friend in Beijing, whose wife works for the government and is good friends with the editor of the Southern Weekend newspaper, is very interested as he hadn't heard of this law . . .

When I lived in Hunan (1997-1999) there was a law which said that foreigners must overdrink. I'm sure there must have been!

To me it seems like they had a problem with one person who drank too much' date=' and now it's in the contrac that you can't drink too much.[/quote']

(sh)

[self-taught-mba]

Sounds like they put into the contract what should be common sense because of one jackass who wanted to be the town drunk.

[adrianlondon]

I can't overdrink. I get drunk and fall over well before that stage.

[liuzhou]

Hic.

[tony1343]

Does the contract say it is against the law to overdrink? Or does it say it is against the contract to do so (and thus they would fire you if you get caught)? Maybe the second is what they meant. Not sure how employment works in China. In the U.S. you can fire someone for any reason (maybe with a state or two being an exception), but in many countries you need cause, so maybe it's getting to that.

Anyway, that's pretty vague. What is overdrinking? Getting drunk or having to go to the hospital. Maybe if you can't walk.

[adrianlondon]

China does have a water problem. Maybe they're worried some foreigner will come and drink it all up.

[rdferg]

I can’t imagine that this is actually a law. More likely, the school has been caught up in the pre-Olympic paranoia and are worried about what foreigners will do while under the influence.

Over the past few weeks many of the teachers I know have been given a yellow paper by the police. A few of the teachers have been here for several years and this is the first time they have encountered this particular list or received any papers from the police. The paper says, in addition to the usual like obeying the laws of China, that foreigners are not allowed to “insult women”!

A few weeks ago my school decided I needed to be registered with the local PSB, not the PSB I was registered at. I’ve been here almost 10 months and will leave in a matter of weeks. I am one of two foreigners in my town. The police know me and see me everywhere I go. Why are they only now worried about my registration?

I figure that, with the tightening of visa rules and pro-Teebet protests, that local and provincial officials are putting pressure on schools to better control their foreigners. Not allowing you to overindulge is just the start.

[Lu]

that foreigners are not allowed to “insult women”!

Implying that they are allowed to insult men.

I could argue that as a woman I am insulted by the government implying that I am somehow not able to handle insults as well as men can.

[gougou]

I could argue that as a woman I am insulted by the government

But then, given that the paper also implied that only foreigners aren't allowed to insult women, I guess there's little you could do

[tony1343]

Don't insult women? I'm glad the Chinese think it is good for public relations to insult foreigners by implying they regularly insult women. I don't think one needs to be told not to insult women or anyone for that matter.

Is this list only for men? Is it okay for women to insult other women?

I don't really understand Chinese "face," but I would take something like this to be an insult to "honor" and also ridiculous. If they gave out things like this during the Olympics, I imagine the Chinese might be made fun of in Western newspapers, which probably wouldn't be good for face.

[roddy]

Daft Olympics rules leading to the poking of fun? Impossible! The actual document is here - I'm not sure it's as bad as made out, but you've got to wonder who 'Can I carry a gun?' is aimed at.

[rdferg]

My knowledge of Chinese characters is somewhat limited, but, thanks for the link to the original Roddy.

Perhaps the Chinese version reads differently, but in the English version I saw, it said that foreigners couldn’t insult women. It failed to specify whether this applied to Chinese women only or if foreign women were also included. As a foreign female with a foreign boyfriend, I was just wondering if I could use this against my boyfriend next time he pisses me off!

[adrianlondon]

If you slip a Tibettan flag in his back pocket ("made in China") then you can get him deported even quicker. It could be worth carrying a few and handing them out to tourists you don't like the look of.

[tony1343]

Who is "Can I carry a gun?" aimed at? Have you ever been to the United States of America? We think it is our God given right to have guns. The National Rifle Association is one of the most powerful lobbyist groups there is (maybe after the American Association of Retired People).

The right to bear arms is protected by the Constitution (though that is a controversial interpretation to some, but we'll get some more information on that in a later Supreme Court case this year). Somewhere around 50% of households have a gun (25% own a gun). Also I think it is 90 guns per 100 people (some people like to own a lot of guns I guess). I heard Canada was similar, but looking at Wikipedia only 22% of households have a gun. All I can say is weak!!

My household doesn't own a gun. I feel very unpatriotic. I think I should go out and buy a shotgun. And over here if someone breaks into my house, I can blast him away and kill him and not get into trouble; don't really have to show my life was in danger or anything (since one is basically the king of his own castle).