Teen who drank alcohol freely in China has a shock in US, where legal drinking age is 21
- A mother wonders why 18-year-olds can’t drink in the US, yet can marry, buy guns and go to war; her son, 19, finds his social life there limited without drink
- In China, drinking is legal if you’re 18, and the law is rarely enforced
Fresh off a plane from Beijing, my 19-year-old son and I are having dinner with American friends in the city of Savannah in the southern state of Georgia. The menu boasts southern soul food with a modern twist and the drinks list does not disappoint, either.
It is my son’s first week of college at the Savannah College of Art and Design and I catch his eye as I order a bourbon-based cocktail. Five days ago, back in Beijing, he would have had a glass of white wine or a gin and tonic. I ask my American friends: “What if I ordered him a glass of white wine?” That would be an unwise thing to do in the US, they say.
My son Simon was born in Italy but grew up partly in Belgium, partly in China. Since China’s underage drinking regulation was passed in 2006, the legal drinking age in the country has been 18. However, on any given Friday or Saturday evening in Beijing, kids from as young as 14 flock to nightclubs and bars in the city’s Sanlitun and Gulou neighbourhoods.
There is generally no need for a fake ID, and having either a foreign-looking face or your name on the VIP guest list can often save you the entrance fee.
The drinking law in China is famous for having gone largely unenforced, but it is entirely different on the other side of the Pacific Ocean.