General Discussion

Long story. During last 15 years of my 28 years in the Army, I specialized in Chinese affairs -- intell operations and analysis, Chinese language school, travel in and around China, ditto for assignments. (Started as an artillery officer but due to things that happened in Vietnam, could not stay in a combat arms, transferred to intell).

Chinese banquets feature several dishes -- one after another, 3-4 soups, meats, veggies, etc., etc.

Banquets require toasts using mao tai -- a fierce homebrew that can serve as paint thinner. Your place is set with a small glass. You start the banquet by toasting the host, the occasion, etc. Each toast is accompanied by the shout "gan bei" -- "dry glass" -- English equivalent is "bottoms up." It is impolite to not empty the glass -- which is immediately refilled.

As each new dish arrives, the toast is "yo lai shin tsai" -- "now comes a new dish" -- and then "gan bei."

After the initial toasts and after toasting the first 3-4 dishes . . . . only the strong survive.