“You’re going to drink a little more than you like, and you can’t refuse,” the late Anthony Bourdain told his co-star Eric Ripert when they ventured to China’s Sichuan Province on his Parts Unknown television show. Bourdain’s statement perfectly expresses the Chinese style of drinking, and at the center of the country’s drinking culture is the national drink baijiu, or “clear liquor.” The potent grain-based spirit has been produced for thousands of years in China and is much stronger than most Western spirits, typically coming in at between 40% and 60% alcohol by volume.