My husband’s office had their annual Chinese New Year’s party last week at a restaurant in Flushing, Queens, and while the karaoke, musical chairs, and door prizes were a blast, I still can’t get over the shots of wine. Yes–shots of wine. My husband, who goes to these events regularly, says this is typical—not among the Americans who work at his company, but among the Chinese.
My own experience has borne this out. Every time I’ve gone to an event in Chinatown with my husband, groups of people (mostly men, but women can do it, too) stand at their tables and do shots of wine. Bad red wine, to my eye. And not in shot glasses. In regular, full-size glasses. A typical American like myself finds the thought of chugging red wine repellant. Beer is meant for chugging, vodka and tequila are meant for knocking back shots, but wine—wine is meant for sipping. But in Chinatown, that’s not how it goes.
A little research revealed the reason for this behavior. In Chinese culture, it doesn’t matter what’s in your glass–whether it’s wine or Remy Martin, draining the entire glass after a toast symbolizes boldness and strength of character. Sipping your drink would be considered rude and wimpy. “Gan Bei,” the phrase used for a toast, literally means “Dry glass.”
This got me thinking about drinking customs in different cultures and around the world. Here are some of the more interesting customs I found:
Sweden:
Making a toast in Sweden? You don’t just say “Ja, skål,” and it’s over. Every toast demands a song, and there are over 2,000 Swedish drinking songs to choose from. The ritual is called “snapsvisor,” and people are meant to sing the glory of the “snap,”—the small drink they are about to enjoy.
My friend, who married a Swedish man, taught me one that went something like this. (translated into English):
Take the glass to your lips,
{chorus} We all drink like herrings!
and empty it, you drunken dog
{chorus} We all drink like herrings!
When proposing a toast in Sweden, be sure to maintain eye contact throughout the toast and the drinking of the alcohol. If you’re in a group, toast the person next to you. “Skål,” which means shell or bowl, dates back to the Vikings, who supposedly drank booze from the skulls of their defeated enemies.
Russia:
When in Russia, just say nyet to mixed drinks. Russians drink their vodka straight, and it’s considered cowardly and insulting to the host to drink anything but.
Before taking a shot of vodka, make sure to sniff some rye bread. Oh—and once a bottle of vodka is opened, it must be finished.
England:
Ever heard the phrase “session drinking”? The goal: to drink a variety of alcoholic beverages with low alcohol percentages so you can drink all night without getting sloppy.
Japan:
When at a celebration in Japan, never pour your own drink. Pouring drinks for each other encourages community and fellowship among the guests. The goal: By the end of the night, everyone should have poured a drink for every other person in the room.
It’s no surprise that these different drinking rituals have evolved, since drinking has been a part of every civilization and culture since the beginning of time.
After reading about these rituals, I realized that my husband and I have a drinking ritual of our own. We’re both superstitious, so when we make a toast and we’re sitting at a table, even if it’s a long table with twenty people, we have to clink everyone’s glass. Have you or any members of your family developed drinking rituals over the years?
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My son is a wine importer in China where interest in good quality wine is increasing along with the appreciation of how to drink it. Let’s hope the custom can be brought to the beverage, not the beverage to the custom and even the overseas Chinese at your husband’s business can learn to sip wine and gambei…..anything else.
Found this post very interesting. I’m sitting here right now about to do a night of drinking with my girlfriend. It made me think of the ritual involved with alcohol (at least in my apartment). I do a ton of stuff that I normally wouldn’t simply because I know later on I will be imbibing. It doesn’t even have to mean getting drunk, just the act of drinking.
Anyway, I liked this post.