Killer taxi rides + Chinese drinking customs

Sunday 7th Dec (con't)
That night after the recruitment session the uni shouted all the reps from the vairous companies and schools to a free dinner in a restaurant. We had our own little private function room, complete with complimentary bai jiu (local schnapps) and 2 packs of smokes awaiting us at the table! alot of people smoke in china (it's pretty cheap - about 5 yuan or $1.25 aussie for a decent brand), so maybe that's why so many people need to express phlegm.

bai jiu goes down pretty easy, and can range anywhere from 45-52%!

the meal was pretty good, but all night we had different reps from the university coming around every few minutes to toast our table. i couldn't understand what they were saying, but i'm guessing it had something to do with wishing us all prosperity in our businesses and hoping their grads would perform well. and they were toasting this bai jiu stuff at every table doing several rounds! after an hour or so these guys started cranking out the chinese opera karaoke hits, and everyone was singing along and clapping.

man i thought all us asians were weak drinkers, but obviously these businessmen were seasoned drinkers. though their faces were still as red as hell! some of the guys from other co's at our table really didn't wanna get too drunk, so a mini physical struggle would ensue between the uni rep and the co reps over who's pouring for who, accompanied with much shouting and cajoling. and when they finally sorted out who was pouring, they'd try to top each other with what must've been flattering remarks about about each other's co's! Luckily i managed to fly under the radar and keep away from the action along with my principal. Quite an experience.

The following nite i had to take a taxi to meet up with a friend for coffee. Since i'm aware that some ppl are out to rip off foreigners i try not to give away the fact i'm an outsider. I managed to tell the taxi driver where i wanted to go in the best local accent i could manage, and luckily he didn't need any further directions. Trying to blend in though means i can't open my mouth, so i'm sitting there in the taxi silently trying to look all cool and relaxed..... and then the driver starts driving on the other side of the road with oncoming traffic only about 50 metres away. My knuckles must've gone snow white gripping onto the handholds, and i didn't exhale for at least a minute. i can say i got to my destination in record time though, and probably paid a lot less than what i would've payed without the suicidal driving.