where the HELL do i buy liquor around Beijing???

[johnd]

The Chinese for vodka is fu2 te4 jia1 jiu3. I'm sure the shop assistants would love to help you out.

Also, if you're out and about in the shops and restaurants and are struggling with communication, here's a technique I learned from my unbashful friend. Select the prettiest university student-looking girl from the thronging masses, and if she doesn't speak English, her friend probably will!

Don't be shy about asking for help in China - people love to get involved. Before you know it you'll have a crowd of 50 people all trying to sort out your problems!

[Craig]

Being a student at BLCU I found finding hard liquor very... very... easy. The friendship store.... on campus... has a decent selection of hard liquor including many kinds of vodka, gin and what have you prices run around 80 kuai. Also the xiaomaibu ..... (on campus) between blue bar and the Muslim restaurant. A short walk away.... CRC shop in wudaokou. Just outside west gate… again friendship store number two. If you don’t know how to say what you want try pointing and saying Zhei ge and if you are feeling brave maybe throw in a nei ge. Overall keep smiling people are nice here. If people didn’t know where to find hard liquor I am betting they didn’t understand you.

[han-han88]

Hey Roddy, like your sense of humour! =)

BabyGodZilla, how you can you compare the Carrefour in JKT with the one in Beijing? Come on! As a person who's lived in JKT for 10, and been to Beijing at least 50 times, I can say there is no comparison. Beijing is the capital city of a country with 1.5 billion people.

Booze is so easy to get, more plentiful and cheaper than it would be in JKT. From your phrasing I can only assume that you are a recent Jakarta International School Alumni. =)