Perhaps you are a corporate manager who is about to attend a few business dinners in China, or maybe you are meeting your significant other' s family at a dinner in Shanghai. Either way, you can be sure that lots of drinking is involved during these Chinese social events.

What you will be drinking.

Baijiu- Also called sorghum wine, baijiu is the drink of choice for business dinners in China.The most popular brand of baijiu is Maotai , which can be as strong as 60% alcohol-by-volume（compared to an average vodka at 40% ABV).

Red wine-Red wine has increased in popularity at Chinese dinner tables in recent years along with the rising interest in luxury goods.

Beer-Popular Chinese beer brands include Tsingtao and Harbin Beer, which are crisp, refreshing lagers(淡啤酒） that can cool the burning sensations from drinking baijiu.

Courage, quantity, and quality

It's perfectly all right if you get drunk, and if you leave sober, your hosts might think they've failed to show the proper hospitality.

The bottom line is, it's best if you drink whatever they give you. This is called jiudan-“drink courage". Of course, having jiudan doesn't automatically mean you have a good jiuliang-“drinking capacity" or the ability to hold your drink. But this really doesn't matter, as long as you have good jiupin-“drink manners" or the way you behave when drunk. Ideally you'll have all three, but if you don't, the first one is the most important.

General etiquette

When clinking glasses, the junior people should always hold their glasses lower than those of senior folks. Also, if you are late for the party, you are expected to punish yourself by drinking.

Lastly, it is considered extremely rude to refuse a drink after someone toasts you. Of course, “drying your glass" is considered the utmost respect at the dinner table.

The Chongyang Festival falls on the 9th day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, so it is also known as the Double Ninth Festival.

The festival is held in the golden season of autumn, at harvest-time. The bright clear weather and the joy of bringing in the harvest make for a festival happy atmosphere. The Chongyang Festival is usually perfect for outdoor activities. Climbing a mountain, carrying a spray of dogwood (茱萸) and drinking chrysanthemum (菊花) wine have become the traditional activities of the festival.

The dogwood is a plant with a strong fragrance(香气), and is often used as a Chinese herbal medicine. People in ancient times believed it could drive away evil spirits and prevent one from getting a chill (寒意) in late autumn. So its history as a medicine goes back many centuries. But the custom of carrying a spray of dogwood during the Double Ninth Festival is slowly dying out and many people in the cities do not even know what a dogwood spray looks like.

Early in Han Dynasty, about 2000 years ago, people used to climb a high platform outside the capital city of Chang’ an on the occasion of the Chongyang Festival. For many, it was the last outing of the year before the onset of winter. The custom evolved (发展成) into present form, when people go climbing to get some exercises as well as enjoy the autumn scenery.

But what about those people who live in plains far from any mountain? The problem is solved by going for a picnic and eating cakes. The Chinese word for “cake” is “Gao”, a homonym (同音异义词) of the Chinese word for “high”. Mountains are high, so eating cakes can, by a stretch of the imagination, take the place of going for a climb.

Chinese New Year, also called Lunar New Year or the Chinese Spring Festival, holds the most significant position among all Chinese festivals and holidays. 【小题1】, there are many things you can do to join the festivities(庆祝活动）and to pay respects to Chinese traditions.

【小题2】. If you have traditional Chinese clothing, this is the perfect time to wear it.

Outfits can be purchased in Chinatown, including beautiful silk clothing. Connected with joy, happiness, good luck, wealth and good fortune, red clothes will ensure that you're fully participating in the spirit of the celebrations.

Clean your home. This tradition is founded in the belief that cleaning the house at this time of the year will “sweep away the bad luck” that has accumulated(积聚）inside over the past year. 【小题3】

Give gifts of money in red envelopes. Adults give lucky envelopes of money to children during this holiday.【小题4】.

Watch a parade on television or online. 【小题5】. In China, the national China Central Television broadcaster (CCTV) attracts hundreds of millions of viewers with its annual Spring Festival Gala(春节联欢晚会).