B.W.I.

Nope, not the airport that serves the nations capitol - I'm referring to my last post. I have a vague recollection of tapping out that message during one of my trips to the bathroom while trying to escape the insanity that is Chinese business table culture.

I have a mobile phone with email capability and I routinely email in my blog to an address I set up that automtically posts the message. In this instance this convienent feature could have gone horribly awry. I'm really glad I didn't say something really bad.

Needless to say, the mayor of Xiaolin town was determined to have me drink more than my fill. She apologized then next evening as she was trying to get me to drink this paint thinner called Moutai - Baiju. Baijiu can be described as rubbing alcohol or diesel fuel. Tim Clissold author of Mr. China wites:

“I’ve never met anybody, even at the heights of alcoholic derangement, prepared to admit that they actually liked the taste,” Mr. Clissold wrote of baijiu. “After drinking it, most people screw up their faces in an involuntary expression of pain and some even yell out.”

This is probably what I hate most about doing business in China. There is way too much drinking.