However, the Shanghai Star did report vague statistics compiled in a study of young people and alcohol use. In the 1980s, a survey of 38,000 15 to 17-year-old Chinese students showed only 7 were addicted to alcohol (.02% approximately). A similar survey in the 1990s showed that number to be 3.7 times higher (.07%) (but still tiny compared to the West).

Statistics show that an average Chinese person consumes less than half of the alcohol an average European does. Their strict culture regulates consumption far better than legislation does in the West. Young (under 30) Chinese girls will rarely be seen smoking in public, and likewise, they will rarely consume alcohol of any amount.

Smoking is far more popular among boys, and likewise so is alcohol consumption. Still, amongst the young it is primarily done at social events, where very few young people are likely to be drinking alone.

I have quite a bit of experience living in China and socializing with college-aged students, and I would guess that less than 1% of *college students* suffer from alcohol addiction, and they are above age 18.

How many vendors will admit selling to underage teens? None will *admit* it, but ALL have done it — because they never check ID. A very young child can go to a store and say he is buying beer for his father, and the store clerk will most likely sell it to them. It is common for children to pick up cigarettes for their parents.

About 2/3 of Chinese alcohol consumption is of spirits, in the form of a rice liquor called “bijio.” Young people generally don’t like the taste (as most non-Chinese people think it’s disgusting), so drinking amongst the young is primarily in the form of low concentration beer. You will find considerably more alcohol addiction among the older population, some of whom drink bijio heated in the morning, like coffee. The only place you can get “cocktails” are Western-style nightclubs, and the price of foreign liquor is extremely expensive compared to Chinese brewed beer and liquor.

If you want to give a speech about addictions amongst Chinese teens, try *video games* instead. If your speech is about alcohol problems in the west, you can confidently say that Chinese teens don’t have the same problem.

The best websites for statistics on Chinese alcohol use are below:

China introduced a drinking age of 18 in 2006. But communication of law changes through out the land will be slow and the laxness of laws means that it will be over looked for a long time.

An article says that 25% of middle school children have tried it, 80% of high school children have.