Page:A Pocket Guide to China (1943).pdf/24

 If you want a good meal in a Chinese restaurant, take your buddies with you. It is best to go not fewer than four in number, the rule being to order the number of different dishes that there are persons, plus a soup. Rice, of course, comes with the meal. You will drink only wines and tea—milk is not a product natural to China and is found only occasionally, in imported cans. Do not drink it fresh anywhere except in homes you know. And drink no cold water unless it has been boiled first.

Wine drinking is much enjoyed in China and people drink a good deal but nearly always with their meals. There is seldom any drunkenness because it is a sign of low breeding to be drunk. Wine is frequently served hot in tiny bowls. If it is Shaohsing wine you can safely drink a good many small bowls of it. But if it is Kaoliang wine, or any of the Canton wines, then be careful—they are heavy drinks.

There are many games that the Chinese play while they drink, guessing games and betting games, and the loser has to drink. When your host says "Kan-pei!" it means "Bottoms up!" You may have an opportunity to learn some of them.

Wherever you go in the cities you'll find street-side markets with all kinds of vegetables and fruits and sweets. If it is summer, there will be plenty of flies, too, and those 19