Guide to Drinking in China

So I think I finally figured out the drinking traditions in China. The alcohol situation in China is rather different from the States. There is no minimum drinking age. A popular drink is homemade fermented rice wine which can be anywhere from 5%-30% alcohol content and tastes extremely sweet. Families often let their children drink it, but usually they must be at least 6 or 7 years old. Beer usually tastes bad here, there is never draft beer unless you go to Beijing/Shanghai and the local brands of bottled beer only make light beer that tastes kind of like Natty Light, Beast, or Old Pile, but it's still ok. You can really splurge and find some Pabst Blue Ribbon in a few stores though. The real man's drink though is Baijou--see the pic on the left. It's usually at least 50% alcohol and tastes like some kind of odd mix between kerosene, butane and Everclear. There is a couple of FTs here that like it, but most of us kringe at the mere sight of Baijou. There is no way to mix it b/c it will at once overtake the flavor of any mixer and even half a shot will give you a terrible hangover.
Drinking is an important resume builder here. One of my students is allergic to alcohol (he gets red rashes on his body the next day after drinking) and his parents are very worried about his employability and are trying to teach him to drink. Many people routinely inquire as to how many bottles of beer someone can drink. If you say more than 10, you get major respect. If you can't drink, you can't really make it in business here, people will think you have something to hide. The more you drink at a business gathering, and the more loud and obnoxious you get, the better. If you try to get a girl to drink more than one bottle of beer she may say that unfortunately she is not experienced in drinking a lot of beer, she has not had enough training.
Drinking in bars or restaurants is certainly encouraged, as is getting as plastered as possible. Restaurants will not close until you are ready to leave. A place that usually closes at 10pm stayed open for us until 4am one day just b/c we were still enjoying their facilities. If people get rowdy, that's cool too. Some students next to our table had a few too many bottles of beer and started breaking the bottles against the wall. The restaurant owners would come and clean up the mess with a smile.
Drinking and driving is certainly a lot looser here. The general rule is that so long as you don't hit anyone, no one is looking to catch you for drinking and driving, unlike America where the pigs look for trouble/look to create trouble by setting up road blocks and taking similar kinds of measures. If you do get caught drinking and driving here, usually being nice to the cop or giving him a cigarette will settle the matter. If he's a hard ass, you probably gotta give him 100 Yuan, but he will probably give you a ride home as well, so it's like a taxi service.