Recap | Irish Volunteer / Hockey Bar pitch in with corn toss classic!

The annual Charity Corn-Toss Classic at Irish Volunteer and sibling venue Hockey Bar is a cornerstone Maovember event. Each year, people congregate to compete, enjoy comradeship and beverages, and raise money for good causes.

The 5th edition of this event was no different as 12 teams participated in a round robin tourney to determine the corn toss champ. With teams paying rmb100 each, and rmb3,500 in team sponsorships courtesy of Martin Winchell and Jen Ambrose, the competition alone raised 47,000 mao (rmb 4,700). In the end, veterans Tom McCabe and Mike Kusy edged new teammates Steve Wang and Big Mike 21-18 in a freezing-cold nail-biting finale.

Irish Volunteer also raised money via craft beer donated by WE Brewery, Crown Royal donated by blog Beijing Boyce and drinks donated by the bar. That raised an additional rmb 2,900 for a one-day total of rmb 7,600. Irish Volunteer has also sold rmb 1,000 worth of Maovember pins this year!

See how to support Maovember here and follow us on Facebook here.

Recap | WE Brewery’s Tianjin-Beijing ‘Twin Cities’ mission!

Craft brewers WE put Tianjin on the Maovember map once again this year. Then took that charitable spirit on the road to Beijing.

The “Twin Cities” bash saw WE Brewery dedicate a tap to Maovember from 5 PM to close. After much guzzling, and with people making additional donations, WE raised a whopping 61,650 mao (rmb 6,165).

But WE wasn’t done. Owner Steve Wang not only brought a keg of his beer to Beijing the next day to sell for charity at the annual corn toss tournament but also entered a team that had rmb 2,000 in sponsorships!

Check out these photos to see WE in action in both cities!

See how to support Maovember here and follow us on Facebook here.

Recap | CHEERS Fiesta Latina steps up with 32,000 mao!

The Shuguangxili branch of CHEERS got the weekend off to a fun start with a Fiesta Latina party. Guests danced the night away while enjoying a free flow of sangria and gluewine for rmb50. With money from drinks, dancing and donations, the event raised 32,000 mao (rmb 3,200) for Maovember.

CHEERS has been supporting Maovember all month, including a “win your weight in wine” contest and a rmb600 donation from the team in Chengdu!

See how to support Maovember here and follow us on Facebook here.

Recap | Q Mex raises 41,000 mao in charity quiz!

The fourth annual Q Mex Bar & Grill charity quiz tested not only the brain power of participants but also, with two teams tied after the fourth and final round, their drinking prowess.

A voluntary donation of rm100 got teams a free pitcher of beer and most took advantage of the offer. Q Mex also raised funds through a tequila auction, sales of Day of the Dead shirts and rmb10 for every margarita and tequila shot sold.

The night saw fierce competition under the guidance of quiz masters Carlos and Faye and Q Mex manager Lucy Li. And that tie at the top meant a beer-chugging finale to discover the winner and a fine end to a fun night.

All in all, Q Mex raised 41,000 mao (rmb 4,100) for Maovember!

See how to support Maovember here and follow us on Facebook here.

Coming up! | Thanksgiving, Hockey, Schnapps, Mystery Wine & More!

What an awesome past week for Maovember! CHEERS got people’s feet moving at the Latin Fiesta, Q Mex held its annual charity quiz and our four-footed friends joined a Dog Pub Crawl that included Beer Mania, The Local, XL, Paddy O’Shea’s and Jing-A.

Meanwhile, WE Brewery held a bash in Tianjin then brought a keg of beer to the annual corn toss tournament at The Irish Volunteer / Hockey Bar in Beijing. Great stuff!

And Mike Wester continued his 900-km mission with walks to The Roots and Bread of Life.

With 11 days and a half-dozen events to go, we have more than 720,000 mao / 72,000 rmb.

I’ll have recaps on our most recent event but first want to let people know what’s in the queue over the next four days.

Thursday, November 23, 6 PM & 8 PM

Thanksgiving at Caravan

Caravan returns with its ‘Mao’roccan’ Thanksgiving meal. Enjoy your turkey dinner with a Moroccan twist! (There is also a vegan option.) Seatings at 6 PM and 8 PM (8 PM not fully booked), with a rmb100 minimum donation. Plus, mulled cider from Orchard Pig. All revenue from the meal and cider goes to Maovember! This event drew a big crowd last year so RSVP soon.

Friday, November 24, 7 PM

Schnapps Tasting at Groovy Schillers

Join German-focused bar and restaurant Groovy Schiller’s, in the former Nearby the Tree space behind Yashow Market, for a night of schnapps. Participants will enjoy nine different schnapps, plus finger food, for rmb150, with all money to Maovember. Plus, they can try their hand at winning prizes through darts.

(Pics from last year’s fundraisers!)

Saturday, November 25, 8 PM

BIIH Maovember Party

The Beijing International Ice Hockey guys have been supporters of Maovember for years, whether by buying pins, selling mustache-themed T-shirts or holding auctions. Join their Maovember party at Irish Volunteer for a silent auction, drink specials, live music by The Beijing Bandits and to get your BIIH mustache T-shirt!

Sunday, November 26, 3 PM

Mystery Wine Party at Q Bar

The Mystery Wine Party is back for a third straight year. Get a bottle of wine valued at rmb150 to rmb1500 for a mere rmb100, with labels from niche importers that source from around the planet. The year’s party is at Q Bar. There will also be Gung Ho pizza, Bread of Life brownies, the documentary Somm and prizes such as Champagne and corkscrews in our Ice Bucket Challenge. Note: We cannot guarantee wine for walk-ins. To guarantee your spot, please register and pay.

Looking even further ahead…

Thursday, November 30

Closing Party at Paddy O’Shea’s

The annual closing party at Paddy O’Shea’s is an epic night of live music, picklebacks, games and comradeship. More details to come.

(Pics from last year’s Maovember fun.)

Saturday, December 2

Chili Pepper Contest at Punjabi

Call is the “hair of the dog”: we will have one post-November event this year. The Beijinger annual chili eating contest at Punjabi will also serve as a Maovember fundraiser. Watch contestants from a half-dozen countries go through at least a half-dozen rounds of increasingly spicy chilies. Guests will also be able to try some of those chilies. More details soon.

Plus Tiki Bungalow is back a third straight year, this time donating 元10 from every Macadamia Chi Chi Nut and Mojito during November.

Lots of fun stuff in the queue. Get out, have fun, help Bread of Life and Library Project.

From corn toss to quizzes | Five Maovember parties this week!

Maovember hits full stride this week with a slate of fun events.

Wednesday, November 15, 9 PM

Charity Pub Quiz at Q-Mex

Q Mex returns with its 4th annual charity quiz. Quiz masters Carlos and Faye will provide brainteasers in English and Chinese. The optional rmb100 entry fee includes two pitchers of Carlsberg and goes to maovember. There will be a charity auction and Q Bar will give rmb10 from every tequila shot and margarita, and rmb100 from every Day of the Dead shirt, to maovember. The action starts at 9 PM but you best get there early to guarantee a seat! Also note that Q Bar’s happy hour goes until 9 PM and that nachos are half-price on Wednesdays.

Friday, November 17, 19:00-24:00

Fiesta Latina at CHEERS

Start the weekend right with the CHEERS Fiesta Latina party. Dance the night away while enjoying a free flow of sangria and gluewine for rmb50. From 7 PM to midnight at the Shuguangxili branch (map here).

Friday, November 17, 5 PM

Twin City Party at WE Brewery

WE Brewery will put Tianjin on the Maovember map with its Twin Cities party! Part 1 is November 17 in Tianjin where, from 5 PM, WE will have a dedicated tap: every rmb30 pour goes to Maovember. Part 2 is in Beijing where WE’s Steve Wang will deliver the money, and several kegs of beer, to The Irish Volunteer for its charity corn toss tourney. Party in Tianjin at WE Brewery: Yi He Li, Xi An dao, He Ping District. More details here.

Saturday, November 18, 1:30 PM

Corn-Toss Classic at The Irish Volunteer

The annual Charity Corn-Toss Classic at Irish Volunteer and sibling venue Hockey Bar dates to the first year of Maovember. Expect this fifth edition to deliver the usual fast-placed corn-toss action along with tasty drinks and a superb draw. The entry fee is rmb100 per team of two players: sign up by emailing George Smith at gwsmithiii@gmail.com. Irish Volunteer is at 311 Jiangtai Road, across from Crowne Plaza Lido.

Sunday, November 19, 2 PM

Dog Pub Crawl in Sanlitun

You and your pooch can get involved in Maovember by joining a Sunday pub crawl that starts at Beer Mania and includes The Local, XL Bar & Restaurant, Paddy O’Shea’s and the Jing-A Xingfucun Middle Road branch. The rmb100 entry fee gets you a drink at each venue and your pooch snacks from Penny’s Food Studio. See QR code on poster to register.

Finally, Mike Wester continues his question to walk 900 km this month and has now passed the 430-km mark. Sponsor him for 90 rmb (1 mao per km) or 450 rmb (5 mao per km)—or even more! Details on his walk and how to support it at this link.

And Tiki Bungalow is supporting Maovember a third straight year, this time by donating 元10 from every Macadamia Chi Chi Nut and Mojito sold this month.

See how to support Maovember here and a full list of upcoming events list here. You can also follow us on Facebook here.

Recap | 108.1 km walked for CHEERS ‘Win Your Weight in Wine’ contest

The bubbly was no doubt justified last Sunday evening as Mike ‘Mao-a-thon‘ Wester rolled into CHEERS 67 wine shop in Shuangjing after walking 108.1 km to visit 21 CHEERS outlets in two days. The fundraiser featured people guessing how many shops Mike would visit and km it would take, with the prize being the best guesser’s weight in wine. That wine goes to Jimmy Selent, who guessed 21 stories and 98 km.

Mike raised rmb3690 via the guesses as well as rmb3700 from CHEERS, which gave an initial donation of rmb1500 as well as rmb100 for each of the first 20 stores visited and rmb200 for each store beyond that. Baozza also donated rmb360 from the baozi-pizza snacks it sold that night.

The walk was part of a 30-day 900-km mission by Mike Wester and pushed him over the 400 km after 12 days.

See how to support Maovember here and our upcoming events list here.

Hops to it | BeerActive combines workouts and brews

The first Maovember BeerActive event brought health-minded individuals together for a workout with beer kegs last Thursday at BActive, followed by some celebratory brews at Slow Boat. The participants used the kegs for presses, for squats and as a base for pushups while they worked up a sweat before cooling down with a few beverages. The event raised rmb1,300 for Maovember.

BActive is also a sponsor of Mike Wester’s 30-day, 900-km “mao-a-thon“.