Ganbei Culture

The Chinese “culture of toasting” – in which alcohol plays a central part of work and business.

A Chinese policeman who died after excessive alcohol consumption has been honored as a martyr who “died in the line of duty,” Chen Hong reported for The China Daily:

According to an anonymous insider from the police force in the Baoan district of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, officer Chen Lusheng was off duty on Oct 28 when he was invited to a dinner with officials.

According to Tania Branigan in The Guardian:

The case has highlighted a culture of obligatory drinking among local officials which has resulted in several other deaths. Official dinners, particularly at lower levels, are notorious for repeated toasts that warm relations and can help to gain advantage in negotiations. Declining to drink with hosts is considered disrespectful.

So serious has the problem become that some local leaders are said to hire assistants partly on the basis of their drinking ability, so they can share the burden. …

There have been other official deaths this year through what is dubbed “ganbei culture.” Last year, a family planning official from Xinyang, in Hunan province, was posthumously given a merit award for dying with “honour” after he collapsed with a brain haemorrhage following an evening at a karaoke bar with fellow officials. A hospital report said binge drinking had contributed to his death.