Kid's chugging beer?!

[taryn]

A 13-year-old girl chugs a glass of cold Zapi while the crowd urges her on.

That's the photo caption for a news brief on crienglish.com.

I'm just curious if adolescent drinking is considered a normal thing to the point that "chugging" is no big deal. I mean, the child finished a liter in 34 seconds! Or is this a regional thing? (They're from Jiangsu Province.)

Hey, I'm glad to know the girl is 13. In this photo, she looks about 7 or 8 years old.

[Qcash3]

I am 18 and I live in the US right next to Washington, DC and kids around here love to drink. All of the Chinese students my age that I have ever met have been very surprised at this behavior. Perhaps it is because there is no drinking age in China, the kids are pretty dismissive of it. I have never met a Chinese kid who likes to binge drink, although I am sure there are some. When I visited Beijing two years ago, my host brother was shocked to hear that American kids drink so much, and I in turn was shocked to hear that he had never been drunk before. Well when we went to dinner I ordered pijiu with dinner, and invited my host brother to help himself to the two big bottles of Yanjing. He got soused amazingly fast, and it was then quite apparent that he had never drank before. I don't know what the deal is with this little girl, but she would fit in quite nicely at an American college .

[Raye Zhang]

drinking is not a good habit

the reason why the newspaper published this photo is to criticize the silly parents, for they didn`t lead a right way to their daughter ,she is only a teenager, but she will be growing up to a civilian, she needs somebody to tell her the right and wrong, help her to build up a proper standard of the whole world.

Clearly , the adults in the photo didn`t act as what they should, it is a bad example for all the parents,and all the society should be aware of

[andrewfz]

I didnt see kids drinking, but judging from my colleagues in the Fujian province shoe industry, they start young. Some colleagues were barely 20 years old and could do the serial Ganbei - ing with no problem at all !

[ATTACH][/ATTACH]

[gougou]

have never met a Chinese kid who likes to binge drink, although I am sure there are some.

Try Chinese business men....

@andrewfz: For those of us not on an 8000*6000 resolution, please resize pictures next time

[md1101]

Some colleagues were barely 20 years old and could do the serial Ganbei - ing with no problem at all !

I don't get it... 20 years old isnt very young in terms of drinking... Remember the age limit in many places is 18 (like Australia).

[wai ming]

I don't get it... 20 years old isnt very young in terms of drinking... Remember the age limit in many places is 18 (like Australia).

As a fellow Aussie who's used to hearing of high school students drinking, I still think 13 is rather young to be drinking...

Is there a legal age for drinking in China?

[Qcash3]

Is there a legal age for drinking in China?

No, there isn't. When I was in Beijing a couple years ago one of my Chinese friends tried to convince me that the drinking age was 18, but as I discovered after two weeks, that was certaintly not the case.

Try Chinese business men....

Chinese business men seem to think that if you can still sit in your chair you obviously haven't had enough to drink....after 10 bottles of pijiu my host father brings out Chinese brandy, and starts ganbei-ing with half full brandy glasses. Finally one of my friends who didn't drink anything, suggested that we get ready to go boating . Well as our apartment was on the 6th floor with no lift, we had to stay home for the night, stairs were a no. The next morning when I woke up, my host father laughed at me, clapped me on the back, and asked me if I liked Chinese brandy .

[md1101]

i agree chinese business men like a drink. but there is a bit of a face thing in there. I went to a business dinner once with about 15 people. we all did ganbei's for ages but after a while certain people started refusing their drinks being filled up or getting them filled only half way. then after a while some of them actually started arguing with each other over how much they had drunk saying stuff like 'you only had half a glass that time!' 'you missed out the last two ganbei's though!' 'my glass is bigger than yours!' 'i had more baijiu..' and so on. ... shame shame

[gato]

It's one of those peculiar Chinese customs that developed in the last twenty years, like fighting to be the one to pay the bill.

[zhxlier]

There is no age limits for drinking in China. However, teenager drinking is not common. When there is no law to prohibit teenagers from drinking, they don't have the desire to drink.

I'm just curious if adolescent drinking is considered a normal thing to the point that "chugging" is no big deal. I mean, the child finished a liter in 34 seconds! Or is this a regional thing? (They're from Jiangsu Province.)

[Qcash3]

When there is no law to prohibit teenagers from drinking, they don't have the desire to drink.

If only they felt that way in America......

[Lu]

Not so, in Holland the legal drinking age is 16 for beer and 18 for stronger drinks, and kids still drink. Usually not in excess, though.

I think the reason Chinese kids don't drink is that drinking and bars are 'bu jiankang', not a place where a good girl/boy goes. Also, they are incredibbly busy studying; and genetically, Chinese can't drink a lot before getting drunk, whereas many westerners can easily go on all night.

[zhxlier]

No no. Bars may be considered "bu jiankang" but never drinking. Read the wonderful words about alcohol and drinking by Li Bai and all the famous poets. Drinking is a much valued merit in the Chinese culture.

I think the reason Chinese kids don't drink is that drinking and bars are 'bu jiankang', not a place where a good girl/boy goes. Also, they are incredibbly busy studying; and genetically, Chinese can't drink a lot before getting drunk, whereas many westerners can easily go on all night.

[gougou]

Chinese can't drink a lot before getting drunk, whereas many westerners can easily go on all night.

Is that actually true? I've read it plenty of times myself, but I've also read rebuttals of it. And seeing how much baijiu some Chinese can down, I'm inclined to go with the rebuttal...

[self-taught-mba]

I've seen middle school (our HS) aged kids getting sloshed at lunch at a local xiao chi here in BJ. One time very strange: older girl was forcing a younger one to continue to drink. At lunchtime, still in the school uniforms. The girl almost yakked but the older girl kept making her do it. Older girl had a very masochistic look on her face. Weird. A bet, an initiation, a punishment, a bullying? Weird.

PS About the pics just one word: crop Can't see anything with out scrolling everywhere.

[Chinesemoon]

QUOTE:

When there is no law to prohibit teenagers from drinking, they don't have the desire to drink.

I think that's true. There's no drinking age in China. I was given beer to drink in social places when I was 15. I think it's very true that Chinese kids don't feel the need to abuse drinking because it's allowed. Sometimes kids drink, but it's uncommon I think for a 13 year old to be drinking. Mostly they start drinking around 18 or 19 from what I see.

[Qcash3]

I think it's very true that Chinese kids don't feel the need to abuse drinking because it's allowed. Sometimes kids drink, but it's uncommon I think for a 13 year old to be drinking. Mostly they start drinking around 18 or 19 from what I see.

I agree wholeheartedly. If they erased the drinking age in America kids would certaintly drink less, because it would become as common as having beer with dinner. When my Compadre's and I were in Beijing a couple years ago, I was only 16, and coming from the U.S. where there was a drinking age I went nuts in China. After drinking myself into a stupor every night for two weeks I started to calm down a bit, once I got used to the idea that I could drink whenever. It didn't help that it was the summer, and the exchange rate was so high, but I finally realized that my parents wouldn't be too happy if I went home and couldn't say what I had been doing because I couldn't remember .

[delaSOuL]

Knowing my cousins in China, all around my age 18-20, drinking to them only happens on special occasions, and even so, the quantity they drink is limited to a couple of glasses of beer, at most -obviously less, if it was stronger alcohol. The girls, in particular, tend to avoid alcohol. Getting drunk doesn't appear fashionable, and is seemingly looked down upon, especially at a young age. Have to keep in mind that perhaps in Western culture 18-20 year olds are considered adults already, and Western youth generally become more independent at an early age, than Chinese youth. Then again, I also have a friend, who is from Qing Dao, and he is very used to drinking. He began at a young age, so perhaps the views on alcohol varies across different regions in China.

Here in England is a completely different story. It seems every social get-together, me and my friends have involves alcohol to whatever extent; even during my exam period this summer, we end up going to the pub for a pint, after finishing up an exam, just to relax abit, and chat about how it went. Drinking is very casual here, practically everyone does it. Bingin, or drinkin to get drunk is also common among young people. The legal drinking age is 18+ and I think it is legal for a 15+ year old to go to a pub/restaurant to drink, as long as an older family member buys the drink.