Peter Chi knows he has to cut back on his drinking. It is not much fun at the best of times, and the worst have included hospitalisation – after drinking fake alcohol – and the numerous evenings where he has passed out at the table.
"No one likes binge drinking, but it's not under your control," he complains. "Of course I don't like it, but there's nothing I can do."
Chi, from north-eastern Liaoning province, is not an alcoholic. Nor is he a party animal, despite his four-times-a-week binges. But as a respectable headteacher in his 40s, he feels he has little choice but to indulge – or risk harming his career. In the west, binge drinking is associated with young men and women spilling out of pubs and clubs in the early hours of the mornings. But in China drinkers are older and – in many cases – drinking not just for fun but for career reasons.
"If I drink, it doesn't necessarily help me get promoted. But if I don't, it's less likely that I will be. So I must drink, even if it's not pleasant at all," Chi explains. "People want to show they are forthright and try to get along with others … It's very normal to get an order to drink from bosses." > > > > Read More
