China
Comedy Show 2010 is coming this September 14th!!! :: Shenzhen Party: Guide to living in Shenzhen
Submitted by chaner on September 14, 2010 - 08:30
Laughter, delicious food, nice environment, free drink, lucky draw and more. Another Shenzhen Comedy Show is coming again this September! It would be the first time of this year to have this funny show, and you just can't miss it!
The Punchline Comedy Club is coming back this September 14th! Check out the ways for your tickets! :: Shenzhen Party: Guide to living in Shenzhen
Submitted by Cherry Ho on September 14, 2010 - 00:00
The Punchline Comedy Club is coming back this September 14th. Check out the ways below for your convenience to get the ticket.
Don't forget to have your tickets when going around these places.
Also, more venues for tickets will be announced soon!
1. Futian District
Club Viva
Address: Shopping Park No 140, Futian District.
Phone: 13798256176
McCawley's Futian
Address: Unit 151-152 North Of COCO PARK 138,Ming Tian Road,Futian (Facing Coco Park-Starbucks On Fu Hua Road)
Phone: 0755-2668 4496
Xpats Bar and Lounge
Toward a transparent economy :: China Dialogue
Sustainability is higher up the corporate agenda than ever, but deeper forms of accountability are needed to achieve real change – and honest reporting is the place to start, writes John Elkington.
Back in May, as we at Volans raced to complete a new report, Harvard Business Review published a cover story called “Leadership in the Age of Transparency”. The introductory text was designed to worry many among the board members and senior executives of major corporations: “Consumers know everything about your company,” it ran, “not just its carbon emissions but its countless other ‘invisible’ effects on the globe. That has changed the rules of business forever.”
The title of our report was The Transparent Economy. Launched late in May at the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) summit in Amsterdam, it aimed to give business leaders a sense of where the transparency, accountability and sustainability agendas are likely to take us over the next decade.
The first thing to say is that sustainability is on the business agenda as never before. More than 50% of executives consider sustainability – the management of environmental, social and governance issues – to be “very” or “extremely” important in a wide range of areas, including development of new products, reputation building and overall corporate strategy, according to a survey conducted by management consultancy McKinsey earlier this year.
Yet the uncomfortable, inconvenient truth is that most companies are not taking a proactive approach to managing sustainability. Only around 30% of executives told McKinsey that their companies actively seek opportunities to invest in sustainability or embed it in their business practices.
Properly understood, sustainability is not the same as corporate social responsibility (CSR), nor can it be reduced to achieving an acceptable balance across economic, social and environmental bottom lines. Instead, it is about the fundamental, intergenerational task of winding down the dysfunctional economic and business models of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the evolution of new ones fit for a human population headed towards nine billion people, living on a small planet already in “ecological overshoot”.
This was the context for our GRI report, which was backed by companies Dow Chemical, Novo Nordisk and SAP. But it is worth asking, if sustainability reporting is the answer, what was the question?
The original intent was not to provide work for report-writing consultants and designers. It was not to boost the number of entries to sustainability reporting award schemes. And it was not to provide a justification for CSR and sustainability departments. Instead, it was designed to open up business thinking to a wider societal agenda, to spur the introduction of the necessary management systems, to create information-rich connections across global supply chains, to transform cultures and paradigms and, ultimately, better inform the global push towards more sustainable forms of development.
Why is this important? In headline terms, sustainability will not be achieved without broader and deeper forms of accountability (across companies, sectors, economies and generations) and these new forms of accountability cannot be achieved without new forms of transparency and stakeholder engagement.
It may seem strange to link the concept of sustainability with transformational change, when many business leaders who have signed up for what is often dubbed “the sustainability journey” see the main goal as protecting and conserving things – be they ecosystems, natural systems like energy, water or fisheries or indigenous cultures. But the uncomfortable fact is that the current economic order is not only socially inequitable but also environmentally unsustainable. Whatever many business leaders thought they were signing up for, sustainability, increasingly, is likely to be an agenda of transformative – and often disruptive – change.
If you are in any doubt, take a look at the Vision 2050 report produced by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), and signed off by the chief executives of many leading corporations. Vision 2050 spells out the “must haves” – things that must happen over the next decade to make a sustainable global society possible. “These include incorporating the costs of externalities, starting with carbon, ecosystem services and water, into the structure of the marketplace; doubling agricultural output without increasing the amount of land or water used; halting deforestation and increasing yields from planted forests; halving carbon emissions worldwide (based on 2005 levels) by 2050 through a shift to low-carbon energy systems and improved demand-side energy efficiency, and providing universal access to low-carbon mobility.”
In what for the Chinese is the “Year of the Tiger”, it sometimes seems that every major news story coming out of the Middle Kingdom has a transparency angle. So will the country commit to more open markets and greater levels of transparency over time, or not? My sense is that, as China gains a growing influence in countries around the world, with its growing pursuit of minerals in Africa or its acquisition of iconic global brands like Volvo, the chances are that Chinese business will have to deliver much greater levels of transparency.
If we push forward solutions to the six great challenges – what we call the TIGERS agenda – identified in our report, our chances of achieving desirable outcomes grow by many orders of magnitude. The six are: “Traceability”, through complex global supply chains; “Integrated Reporting”, across the triple bottom line; “Government Leadership”, in terms of reporting rules and incentives; “Environmental Boundaries”, the links to planetary limits associated with climate, biodiversity or nutrient cycles; “Rating and Ranking”, which help spur and inform competition between companies and countries; and “Shadow Economies”, the dark sides of our economies, involving corruption or trafficking in drugs, toxic waste, weapons or human beings.
The GRI community, according to our survey, wants to see environmental, social and economic disclosures, in that order. Most interestingly, respondents want to know where a reporting company thinks it needs to collaborate and partner. Environmental issues (68%) still slightly eclipse social issues (65%), with economic issues (51%) significantly behind. Happily, a spectacularly low result (3%) was recorded for the suggestion that only areas that can be related to financial results should be included.
After two decades of sustainability reporting, the foundations have been laid for a continued expansion of GRI-based reporting. If the best elements of current practice were to spread – for example Denmark’s “report or explain” principle, which requires large companies to disclose their corporate responsibility policy in annual reports or explain why they do not have one – things could move both fast and far. It is time to push for a truly transparent economy.
John Elkington is executive chairman of Volans and non-executive director at SustainAbility.
Homepage image by ugotsoul
New haircolor :: Shopgirls Shanghai
So I’m planning to dye my hair before I go to China. I’m thinking of something like this…what do you think?
Chinese Microblogging to Be Censored, No Shit :: Understanding China, one Blog at a Time
Excerpt:Chinese authorities have just announced that microblogging websites – sites offering Twitter-style services – will be told to appoint self-discipline commissioners to be responsible for censorship. In a parallel development, new rules took effect on 1 September. Now anyone wanting to buy a mobile phone that uses prepaid SIM cards will have to produce identity papers while anyone already owning such a phone will have three years to register their ownership.
China’s censors are giving themselves an additional layer of control, Reporters Without Borders said. The Great Firewall of China is getting human reinforcements to boost its effectiveness. But if they are held to strict performance criteria, it seems these commissioners are being assigned an impossible mission, given the volume of information circulating online for which they will be responsible.
The press freedom organisation added: Nonetheless, their very existence will be dangerous because of their nuisance value and because they could encourage microbloggers to censor themselves. Meanwhile, under the pretext of combating spam, a new blow has been dealt to the personal data of China’s mobile phone users.
The microblogging platforms will themselves have to hire the commissioners whose job it will be to monitor and censor anything that could threaten China’s security and social stability. They are supposed to target content linked to illegal activities, pornography and violence, as well as baseless rumours and politically sensitive issues. Although hired by the site, each commissioner will be responsible for its content and will be operationally independent.
[delay +9 hours
My Visit to a Chinese Hospital- Red Army Hospital Part 5…. :: Understanding China, one Blog at a Time
This is a mult-blog post or post blog about my visit to a hospital in the PRC. It is the honest to goodness truth, (all of the events I mean). To summarize the previous posts, I paid about 70 U$ for a bunch of meds and other things that were supposed to make me better. I was diagnosed with “Beijing lung” which could be anything from emphesema to allergies, I dont think they knew what I had, but they e-rayed me and I pissed off the ‘doctor’ who helped me, the guy was not in hospital scrubs as were none of the staff. In the xray room doctors were actually smoking, no lie.Prior to that I had blood draw or laser-ed out of my finger almost leaving me disabled. No where did I see sinks, nor at any time were protective gloves worn….
I forget where I left off and am too lazy to check, but i must have gone back to the doctor who was wearing Bermuda shorts. The guy said that I had something, but he would give me meds and fix me right up.
The doctor who spoke rudimentary English took me to get the meds. The pharmacy is what most places would call it, but this place looked more like a crack house in Watts. The only opening was a little slit and with my experience with the blood letting (last guy who drew blood from me), I was apprehensive. I thrust the paper into the slot with the names of all the meds. The guy behind the screen who was military (it is a Red Army hospital) eyed me as if I were a spy. He was gone for a matter of minutes and my cough got worse. He reappeared with what appeared to be mustard on his face, I guess he’d gone to take a break.
The man then proceeded to fill one of those damned Wal-mart like blue carrier things with all kinds of Chinese meds. There were 24 bottles, pills, whoopie cushions, stuff like that . Needless to say, I was like WTF?
I grabbed a freaking bottle of saline solution and asked what was up. The doc looked at me, he said I needed injections. I was like fk i need an injection of this. here is what I learned
1- in China an injection is actually an IV or intravenous drip
2-in China they still use glass bottles for IV drips
3- in China they give you the freaking bottles for the IV drip and you have to CARRY them to the nurses station EACH time you go there
So I grabbed the bottles and asked what I was supposed to do. The guy says each time you come to the hospital you bring this, he shows me a bottle, a syringes, some other vials of dark stuff and cotton swabs etc. I was like, but this is a hospital, dont they have this stuff in the nurses station? He says, not in china. Again I shake my head and amble off toting a ton of bottles and powders and the like.
The guy pulls me aside and warns me not to leave my bottles in the IV area, as someone might steal them. So I am in the PRC in the Red Army hospital about to get an IV drip, there are military personnel all round and I have to carry all my meds with me, even the syringes or someone might steal them. I say ask how many times I have to come , he says two times per day for four days.
I look in the freaking IV room and its like One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest
To Be Continued
Look at this: A 360 panorama of Kashgar :: Shanghaiist
Tea house and evening market, Kashgar in Xinjiang, from Josh at Far West China.
Blogging in China :: Understanding China, one Blog at a Time
FYI, we can get wordpress in China, but cannot get the other blog sites, ie blogger etc. I have lost my proxy, so I am sneak blogging via email, least ways till the jack booted thugs discover who I am and beat a confession out of me, oops did I just commit that to print, ah well, to make an omelet you’ve gotta break some eggs. Anyway, if anyone has a workaround for it, ie a good vpn I can use in the good old PRC, please let me know….
Do you agree with those statements? :: Shopgirls Shanghai
Chinese are like grains of sand – they never stick together. I think this may be a broad term but I think it’s right – they are great at killing each other – just like in the cultural revolution, their worst enemy is their own people. Very sad for me to say that. It also gives the Chinese people insecurity, so they want as much as possible to control their own destiny.
It’s difficult for a Cantonese to work for a Shanghainese. Anyway there is a certain difference in mentality. Shanghainese are diplomatic – they don’t exactly tell you what they think. Their behaviour is different. Like when they are not well off, they like to dress very nicely.
I am not allowed to do anything wrong. There are so many relatives who point me out to their children and say, “Look at him.”
The Shanghainese use a number of tricks. They pretend to be very generous to you – in reality they are so calculating.
I’m reading “The Spirit of Chinese Capitalism” by Redding, Gordon. He brings out some statements that HongKong Chinese people had said about Mainland Chinese people. Quite interesting, some statements are very very true.
A Japanese Hospital Experience :: West Peavine
I had a first-hand demonstration today of what a government-run "socialistic" healthcare system is like. I went to a hospital in Tokyo for a checkup and spent several hours witnessing the "horrors" of Japan's healthcare system. There were lines one or two people deep, waiting periods of several minutes for tests, hallways that hadn't been cleaned in an hour or so, and a small co-pay at the end of the patient's visit - and no follow-on bills. How could these poor souls live with such a system? Why was there a look of contentment on everyone's face? Why was the staff so cheery and polite?
Ok, ok - I have to admit it was all very impressive. The doctors were very good and spent up to 30 minutes explaining everything to me and answering all my questions without rushing out the door for their next patient. Once, when an unexpected test was needed, the doctor scheduled it immediately. "You're lucky you are in Japan," he said. "If we were in New York (where he had trained) it would take a week to schedule this test." A sophisticated communications system tied everything together and each doctor immediately knew what the previous doctor had done for me. I was guided from area to area by terminals that I would stick a card into and it would tell me where to go to next. It was all so easy - even in a foreign language!
Of course since I don't have Japanese national insurance I had to pay for my services but I was treated no different from the Japanese citizens, all of whom were getting nearly free or low cost healthcare because of their nationalized system. They pay an annual fee based upon their income but my Japanese friend said it costs him a couple of hundred dollars a year.
Witnessing this I felt sad that America doesn't have a healthcare system like this. How absurd it is that our recent debate over healthcare in the US was (and is) marked by so much misinformation. How crazy it must look to the Japanese, the Europeans and even the South Koreans who have had government-operated healthcare insurance for years - even decades.
It might be a good idea for us to look at what actually works before we start pulling out all the scare tactics next time.
Taobao 101: Creating an Account :: City Weekend Shanghai Blog
Date: Sep 8th 2010 7:15p.m.
Contributed by: clairebared
Over the next two weeks, City Weekend is going on a shopping spree. We'll be showing you different ways to keep your savings low, by introducing you to some of the city's coolest shops. Today, we begin with the first lesson in Taobao 101.
I'm going to be honest with you; I'm a taobao virgin. I've shied away from the mammoth website for two reasons. The first being that the website is so utterly confusing I wouldn't even know where to start. The second is because I'm a little bit afraid of the damage I will do to my savings once I learned the tricks of the trade.
In the spirit of City Weekend's latest shopping issue (it hit the streets today, go check it out), I have decided to put taobao to the test and join in on all the online shopping fun. Over the next few days I am going to be a City Weekend guinea pig and make my very first taobao purchase. Before I can start shopping, my first mission is to set up an account. I tackled this today. Here's how I went:
I went straight to the registration page. You can make life a whole lot easier and use google translate to translate each page or you can follow my simple screen shots.
After filling in all my details correctly, I was taken to page advising me that a confirmation email had been sent to my email account.
Waiting for me in my inbox was this message asking me to activate my account by clicking on the blue hyperlink.
Success! My account was activated and I was now ready to shop. All that was left to do is to decide on what I want to ...
At The Asian Seafood Expo In Hong Kong, Critically Endangered Bluefin Tuna... :: Alex Hofford Photography
How can this be allowed to happen?
Everyone, by now, knows that bluefin tuna is on the verge of extinction.
According to the United Nations International Union for the Conservation of Nature (UN-IUCN) 'Red List' of endangered species, bluefin tuna is as 'critically endangered' as the panda or the tiger.
So why is it OK to eat it in Hong Kong?
We don't eat panda or tiger, so why do people eat bluefin tuna? Because it is available, yet rare and expensive.
Because you have to be rich to be able to afford it. How can people be so dumb?
A friend suggested to me tonight that it has to do with race. But I really would prefer not to get into all that here...
ALEX HOFFORD : HONG KONG CHINA BLUEFIN TUNA PHOTOGRAPHER
EVENT: This Weekend! :: Shopgirls Shanghai
If I was in Shanghai I would go to this event, but instead I’m in Stockholm and will be joining the Career Days instead and hunting for a WELLPAID job!!!!!!!!!!! Hi-yaaaaaaa eeeeaaaaay!!!
But to be honest, I am really not a fan of Belvedere vodka! I rather drink Grey Goose 
I know Belvedere is a yada yada luxury Polish vodka, but still…NO! I prefer Francais
Gates and Buffett's Chinese billionaire debacle: Bad press, but not all bad people? :: Shanghaiist
Chen Guangbiao, one of the few Chinese billionaires who answered Gates' and Buffett's call
The pledge, started by Gates and Buffett, asks billionaires to dedicate at least half their fortunes to charity under the idea that it's quite possible to live well even if you only have $500 million to your name. More than three dozen billionaires in the U.S. have joined the pledge - including David Rockefeller and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. Some who haven't, such as George Soros, have nevertheless followed up by making unprecedented donations to NGOs under their own name.
With over 8000 billionaires in Beijing alone, it's no wonder that Gates and Buffett have now set their sites on China's elite. But, three weeks before the ball, only two billionaires have agreed to go.
The deafening silence has drummed up critics of China's rich, with reports painting them as being afraid of being asked to donate money. One opinion piece in the Global Times added that many of the rich don't want to draw attention to themselves, since they earned their fortunes in sometimes shady ways (one study found that China's rich had $13 trillion in hidden, untaxed income):
Seventeen rich people who made it on to a top 50 rich list since China started to record fortune makers in 1999 have been found guilty of cheating in some way while they rose. More have gone under because of business integrity investigations. Every year there are people knocked off the heights of wealth - the rich are cursed, people say.
Lack of transparency and an arbitrary moderating system mean a person can gain or lose fortunes by questionable methods. Riches are intuitively associated with something fishy, which makes showing off rather ill advised.
China's old time wisdom with regard to wealth and its implications can be encapsulated in one idiom: "Being rich brings a man the same thing as being fat brings a pig."
The bad press is probably no surprise for a country that, for the most part, hates its rich people. Recent studies found that 96% of Chinese feel resentment towards the moneyed. And nothing gets people quite as worked up as news about the rich behaving badly. To try to stem the negativity, the foundations have been backpedalling and clarifying.
Gates and Buffett have committed to writing a letter that will detail why they've invited Chinese billionaires to the Beijing dining event with an emphasis about how it's more about "learning" than "donations." Said their press person, Zhang Jing, “Our biggest intention for this month’s China trip is to learn how to do philanthropy in China... We would like to learn how to propel the charity business in such a big developing nation.”
Zhang Jing went on to add in the Global Times that it's understandable why some billionaires can't attend, since they're usually pretty busy. "But that does not mean businessmen are afraid of being lobbied to donate their wealth. Some may not make it simply because of their tight schedules."
Even if only two people show up though, at least one of them has already made a huge commitment. Chen Guangbiao, the CEO of a resources recycling company in Jiangsu, has officially published a letter committing his entire fortune to charity... after he kicks the bucket.
Meanwhile, anyone would be remiss not to mention the acts of China's best samaritan, who even before the Billionaire's pledge had committed to giving away all of his assets. Yu Pengnian never made it to the list of China's billionaires, because he kept on giving too much away ($1.2 billion by some counts) to have the net worth to be one.
Is there any genuine Maotai in Qingdao? :: Danwei
City Sun, September 8, 2010
Today's City Sun (), a commercial morning paper published in Qingdao by the Dazhong News Group.
The paper's top story concerns the apprehension of a criminal gang that smashed up a hotel nightclub on March 27 and engaged in drug trafficking. Nie Lei, the ringleader, was arrested along with more than 130 other gang members.
Perhaps of more interest to readers is the front-page feature story, which asks "How many bottles of genuine Maotai are there in Qingdao?"
Maotai, one of China's most famous brands of alcohol, is produced in the town of Maotai, Guizhou Province. Back in 2004, a bottle of the 106-proof variety would retail for 368 RMB, but now it commonly sells for over a thousand. However, other liquor stores in Qingdao are offering deep, deep discounts on bottles labeled with the official "Kweichow Moutai" trademark. What gives?
In the three-page feature, which feels increasingly like a soft ad for the conglomerate that produces the stuff, City Sun reporters take a trip to Guizhou, where they find that the entire town, it seems, is involved in the business of producing alcohol under the Maotai brand name. Coming back to Qingdao, they learn that just one company in the city is authorized to distribute genuine, top-of-the-line Maotai.
So how many bottles of genuine Maotai are there in Qingdao? The newspaper does not arrive at a satisfactory answer.
Links and Sources- City Sun (Chinese): How many bottles of genuine Maotai are there in Qingdao?, part 2, part 3, Nie Lei apprehended
Tags: City Sun, fakes, Maotai, Moutai
This article is from Danwei.org
Pets of the Week: Sashimi and Noodles :: City Weekend Beijing Blog
Date: Sep 8th 2010 4:23p.m.
Contributed by: siennapc
Sashimi and Noodles are not related, but they do act like brother and sister. Both Siamese, they are beautiful looking with their big blue eyes, slender bodies and pointed dark faces. But don’t let looks fool you. These two are just as mischievous as all other cats.
Sashimi is the oldest, about four years old and Noodles is about three. They are partners in crime.
They like:
- Hanging out on their cat tree posing and dreaming
- Drinking water from the bathtub
- Running all over the apartment in order to keep their figures
- Sleeping on top of the TV in winter, as it's toasty warm up there
- They love lots of cuddles and attention
- Sashimi loves to talk, but Noodles just makes random noises now and then
- Noodles is obsessed with pens and pencils and finds great pleasure in taking all the pens out of the pen jar and leaving them wherever they fall
They dislike:
- Our neighbors' children. When the kids arrive, the cats go A.W.O.L.
- They hate having a bath but sometimes they get a bit stinky and they need one
- Hot weather makes them whiney and sleepy – just like humans
Owners Craig and Matthew say:"Having bought Sashimi initially, she was always lonely when we were out at work and looked so sad on our return. We bought Noodles to comfort her, and they were friends instantly. Now they care for each other and fight and play just like brothers and sisters should. Our life revolves around these two – they are 100% spoiled. Craig always wanted Siamese cats, and when we saw the cats at the pet market there was no stopping him in buying. Everyone that comes over to our place loves them – but for some reason many Chinese friends and neighbors ...
Travel China with the Yangxifu: Mawangdui, Hunan Museum, Changsha :: Speaking of China
The over 2,000-year-old Mawangdui mummy is amazing, but it's not the only amazing thing on display at this special exhibit at the Hunan Provincial Museum. From ancient leftovers to revealing silk...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
"Young" China team ousted from World Championships :: Shanghaiist
Photo from Subaonet
The highlight of the tournament for Team China was the play of Yi Jianlian, who averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds, and took it to the competition with some aggressive play inside. His performance has Washington Wizards bloggers buzzing about what he might bring to their team this year—but playing well in international tournaments has never been Yi's problem. It's when he goes up against NBA bodies that he seems to wither. And he's already a little banged up, sitting on the bench for China's game against Turkey with a sore Achilles tendon.
The low point of the tournament for Team China was a 47-point loss to Turkey. With Yi out of the lineup, China only managed to scrounge up an anemic 40 points—and just 6 and 7 in the first two quarters. Not surprisingly, the loss led to some questions in Chinese sports media as to whether new coach Bob Donewald is the right man for the job.
As he starts facing more scrutiny from Chinese media. Donewald is benefiting from a misguided "young and inexperienced" label placed on China by lots of sports media. It's true that they are playing without veteran centers Yao Ming and Mengke Bateer, and elder statesman Li Nan has finally traded his jersey for an assistant coach's polo shirt, but the average age for the starting lineup is over 27.
And that's before you take into account the rampant downward adjustment of ages that goes on in Chinese basketball. All of the starters played in the 2008 Olympics, and four of them—Yi, Wang Zhizhi, Liu Wei and Sun Yue—have NBA experience (point guard Liu only played in some pre-season games, but the rest al signed with teams for the regular season). Despite all of that, most Chinese media describe the team as young—a convenient excuse for its 1-5 record in Turkey.
Next up for China is the Asian Games in Guangzhou this November. Yi will stay with the team through then, before returning to the Wizards.
This article also appeared on China Sports Today.
Beijing Western Food Association Announces Top 20 Restaurants :: The Beijinger Blog
The Global Times reported earlier this week that the Beijing Western Food Association (BWFA) has published their first annual list of Beijing’s crème-de-la-crème of foreign dining. According to the Association’s secretary-general Xu Meng, these “20 restaurants best represent the foreign flavors that Beijing has to offer.” Really?
"Those restaurants are not close to being voted the best in the city,” the Global Times quoted former Beijinger dining editor Tom O’Malley as saying.
Free is not necessarily good :: Round-the-World Barstool Blues
As I've mentioned before, with regard to the horrendous "free vodka cocktails" promotion run by doomed Village nightspot Club Le Zazou during its 'soft opening' around the turn of the year (the place had to rebrand itself as Club Le to try to extirpate the disastrous impressions it made during its first couple of months; as if adopting an even more ridiculous name is going to help its chances!), I think 'FREE drink' promotions are generally a bad idea. Chinese businessmen don't see the value of promotion, and don't like to 'lose money' on such events. So, any place with Chinese owners or investors advertising such an offer is almost certainly going to be cutting corners, pulling as many dirty tricks as possible to reduce its costs - providing drinks that have little or no alcohol in them, and whatever alcohol there is probably being nasty (and often quite toxic) ersatz booze (as was the case with the Le Zazou opening - despite Absolut ostensibly being a sponsor/co-promoter).
And, of course, it tends to encourage reckless overindulgence - and consequent bad behaviour - from the punters. You want people to get a pleasant buzz on; you don't want to get them falling-down/throwing-up/come-outside-and-say-that drunk. Free drinks tend to get people hopelessly drunk - and ill, and violent - very fast.
Moreover, I believe there's very little chance of a free drink promotion encouraging people to purchase any more expensive drinks or to stay longer at your bar. Where there's a special offer on certain drinks, some people will always think, "Well, I don't really like those drinks. I might have one or two, because they're so cheap. But I think I'm happy enough to pay regular price for something else, so long as my friends are having a good time drinking the specials." But when the special offer is FREE drinks, that rationality almost always breaks down: the price differential is too great. People will drink any old shit if they think they can get drunk without spending a cent. There's a similar phenomenon too, I think, at the end of the special offer period. With a cheap drinks promotion, people are usually willing enough to start paying regular prices when it comes to an end after a few hours. But when the drinks have been FREE, it's too much of a psychological hurdle to go back to paying - paying anything - for them. With 'free drinks' events, most people cane them for all they're worth, and then go home immediately afterwards (or to hospital, or to prison); they don't stick around in the bar for the rest of the evening.
Worst of all, free drinks bring out the worst in human nature - in the punters especially, but also sometimes in the staff. They destroy the reciprocity - and the respect - in the staff-customer relationship. It's an unfortunate truth that most people don't show a lot of respect to people who are giving them something for nothing - they don't have to, if the people are obliged to give them what they're asking for without any reciprocal obligation on their side to hand over some money. And the unhappy corollary of this is that people tend not to respect people who expect/demand something-for-nothing from them (particularly when the people demanding their freebies are being arseholes about it - which they usually are, especially if they've already had a few drinks).
'Free drink' events, I find, always generate a bad atmosphere. People get too drunk, too fast. The staff get over-stressed. Everybody gets impatient and irritable. And, almost inevitably, a few people will end up getting abusive and violent.
With a 'cheap drinks' event, that hardly ever happens. People enjoy getting drunk - perhaps very, very drunk - but they don't go crazy and behave like teenagers at their first keg party.
Chad Lager at Fubar perhaps had this in mind when he decided to have a nominal charge for the special cocktails at the 'First of the Month Madness' parties he's been running for the last 6 months. The trouble was..... the 1 kuai charge was purely token; and it wasn't even really enforced that strictly (once it got busy, punters were expected to dump their loose change in a jar on the bar under an 'honours system'). It was far too little to obviate the the 'bad behaviour' problems I just outlined. Those drinks were in effect FREE. And murderously STRONG!! Naturally, bad things ensued.
After last Wednesday's shenanigans, Chad has decided to discontinue the event. I hope he'll eventually reinstate something similar - if he charged, say, 20 kuai for cocktails like those (well, maybe something a bit nicer, and a bit less potent), I don't think he'd have nearly so many problems.
