The A-List

9/27/08

I had dinner with the mayor the other night. I should clarify that it wasn’t a personal one-on-one deal, but rather a banquet for all the foreign teachers and businesspersons in LianYunGang. But nevertheless, the mayor was the host. All the foreign teachers from my university were driven to the posh Yuntai Hotel, wherein we proceeded to the banquet room to enjoy our evening with the city’s top tier of public officials. In a party of such elite public servants, there is a list of usual suspects in attendance. This list almost always includes the mayor, the secretary general of the city council, the deputy mayor, and the chief of police.

There was a good number in attendance for the banquet, so it was necessary to divide the guests into separate tables. This arrangement was very similar to a wedding reception or any other type of formal dinner. But I had the fortune of being seated at the table with the top cop, so when it came time for the introductions and toasts at the table, I didn’t miss a beat. The city’s official interpreter was also sitting at our table, so when the introductions were being made by the foreign teachers—in English—the interpreter would translate for the police boss and the other Chinese at the table. It was my turn, so I gave a brief bio for myself (very typical, “Hi I’m Rory and this is my first time in China. I’m teaching at the HuaiHai Institute, blablabla…), but I also made sure to note that I was very impressed by the hospitality in LianYunGang. Not only did I compliment the friendliness of the city, but I took it one step further and complimented the outstanding security of the city. The chief, after receiving the Chinese translation, got a kick out of this and quickly offered to Ganbei (“drain the glass” in Chinese). He would later note, through the interpreter, that LianYunGang is in fact the safest city in all of Jiangsu Province. Good to know. And to be honest, I think this marks the first time that I’ve managed to get on the good side of a cop. Just one of the advantages of being a foreign “expert” I suppose.

A quick note about the Ganbei: it is very common for the host of an event to propose a toast to all individual members at the table, and for each of these toasts he must drink. The drink of choice for the toast is almost always Baijo, which is basically Chinese moonshine. This crystal clear firewater was flowing freely at our banquet, and after the first round of toasts the small shooter glass specially designated for the Baijo was being refilled with alarming frequency. Luckily there was enough foodstuff available to absorb the liquor. And of course, the essential part of any Asian gathering is the tomfoolery of karaoke. Our Japanese colleagues proved to be rock stars in disguise. I’m sure that the plentiful consumption of liquor actually had no influence on the guests’ eagerness to take the microphone. It’s just that popular over here.

I must admit that I’m developing an affinity for the Chinese style of dining, and the banquet style is especially favorable. All the dishes are placed in the center of the table on a Lazy Susan, or a rotating wheel. This allows the guests to simply spin the giant glass plate and voila, their preferred dish is right in front of them. No passing required! I also figured out that the fish plate can be an auspicious portend at the dinner table (there is always at least one type of seafood in these dinners, and given that LianYunGang is a coastal city, the seafood dishes are very popular and quite good). Apparently, the fish’s head and tail determine Ganbei buddies. So if the fish points at you, be prepared to drink with the person at the tail end.

After all the festivities at the banquet came to a close, we were driven back to the university. But this didn’t put an end to my night, oh no not by a long shot. All the Baijo drink fueled a night that could only be characterized as an entirely different kind of wild. I won’t get into the details here; this is a family blog after all. And lord knows what kind of example I would be setting for future expats if they knew the sordid events that unfolded. Ironically enough, all the madness was inspired by a dinner with the chief of police.