Turkey time | Caravan’s Thanksgiving dinner raises rmb6100

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Moroccan restaurant Caravan put a special twist on this year’s U.S. Thanksgiving dinner celebrations in Beijing with a meal to support Maovember. With a buffet that included cajun salad, truffle macaroni and cheese, turkey with sweet potato and cranberry tajine, and more, people ate until they were, ahem, stuffed. Each attendee bought a Maovember pin for rmb50 and was asked for a minimum donation of rmb100 for the meal. In the end, rmb3600 was raised from donations and rmb2500 from pins, for a total of rmb6100 or 61,000 mao!

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Party! | Paddy O’Shea’s helps Maovember enter its final stretch with a Friday night bash

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Paddy O’Shea’s once again held this year’s Maovember closing-but-not-really-closing party on Friday night. (We do still have a few events coming up.) As usual, it was a night of fun, games and music. Jameson was on hand with its pop-up bar and serving pickle backs and coffee shots for rmb25, with all proceeds to Maovember. There was also a very popular darts game, at rmb30 per round, with lots of prizes, including Paddy O’Shea’s scarves, bottles of Jameson and bottles of wine from CHEERS. Add in an open mic night, with some excellent live music, a cool DJ, and plenty of food and drink, and it was once again a great way to help wind down this year’s campaign. With rmb1818 from darts and donations, and rmb2730 from shots, the event raised rmb4548.

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Joe for mo | Jing-A launches coffee stout with Good Works beans

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Jing-A held a launch party for its Yunnan Coffee Imperial Stout, made with beans from 2016 charity partner Good Works, on November 18. Ten renminbi from each sale of this rich and flavorful beer goes to Maovember, and Jing-A also raised funds with rmb20 Jameson shots and a coffee bean counting game. On launch night alone, rmb1650 was raised, with more funds to be gathered as sales of that coffee stout continue. Jing-A also sold three Maovember pins on the night.

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Paddle Power | Migas holds Ping Pong Social Club event for Maovember

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Migas followed up its Funk Fever mustache bash of 2014 and its charity brunch and porron competition in 2015 with some paddle and pijou power. This year event’s featured The Ping Pong Social Club in partnership with The Foxes Rock craft beer. Social ping pong involves a big group of people circling a table, with players gradually eliminated as they miss shots. With rmb700 from entry fees / donations and rmb3193 from drinks, this paddle-pijou powered event raised rmb3893 or 38,930 mao. Well-played.

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Heavy-duty fundraising | Beer Mania holds “win your weight in beer” contest

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Fresh off a charity liar’s dice tournament, Beer Mania offered an, ahem, heavy-duty prize on November 15 as it celebrated King’s Day with social group Belgians in Beijing. In short, one lucky guest was destined to win his or her weight in Omer beer from Belgium.

Ticket sales were fast and furious, totaling rmb2,760 by the time of the draw, won by Keith Robinson, who had bought more than rmb500 worth of tickets. He then turned around and auctioned off the beer for charity, raising a further rmb1,350. With rmb10 from every Omer beer sale also going to Maovember, totaling rmb580, that meant grand total of rmb4,690 or 46,900 mao. My guess is a lot of the winning beer, donated by Omer, was opened that very night!

And Beer Mania isn’t finished! Owner Thierry de Dobbeleer is holding a Shave / No Shave contest until the end of this month to determine the fate of his rather massive beard. You still have 10 days to donate to the “keep it” or “cut it” campaign at Beer Mania. And if you are wearing your Maovember pin, you’ll get a discount, even more if you also have pins from previous campaigns!

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Lei of the land | Tiki Bungalow raises rmb1937 for Maovember

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The Tiki Bungalow held its first Maovember event last year, a fun Magnum P.I.-inspired affair, and returned this year with another evening of action. Guests enjoyed Pina Colada shots, Hellfire shots or Bacardi Oakheart spiced rum shots at rmb20 each, with all proceeds to Maovember. They could also buy leis for rmb20 and by night’s end the packed bar was full of these colorful objects. Add the rhythmic music that defines Tiki Bungalow, and an enthusiastic crowd, and it was a good night, one that raised rmb1400 from shots, rmb400 from leis and rmb137 from donations, for a grand total of rmb1937 or 19,370 mao.

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Mix and match | Fubar event raises rmb700 for Maovember

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Fubar marked China’s annual “Singles Day” with a Find Your Match Party that included a card matching game at rmb10, roulette for shots at rmb20, and a draw for a 12-year-old bottle of Glenfiddich, with tickets at rmb20. Some proceeds from sales of beer and gin tonics also went to Maovember. The event raised rmb700 for this year’s campaign, with rmb500 from games and rmb200 from drinks.

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Sipping surprises | Mystery Wine Party teams nine suppliers, Baozza at Q Bar

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The second annual Mystery Wine Party teamed nine niche suppliers for an afternoon of vino excitement in Beijing. This year’s event, held at Q Bar, featured wines from 1421, Australian Natural, Grape Wall, La Cava, Sommelier International, Lewine, Pasion, Ponty and Seina.

The fifty wines, hailing from Argentina, Australian, Chile, China, France and Spain, retail for rmb120 to rmb600 per bottle. The organizers gift-wrapped and sold each for a mere rmb100, with guests getting the thrill of unwrapping the bottles, discovering new grapes and regions, and sharing wines with their fellow imbibers.

Baozi-pizza specialists Baozza were on hand with four versions of their tasty baozi-pizza combos for rmb10 each. And there was a draw for a rmb2000 bottle of Chilean wine provided by La Cava.

All funds from the wine, baozza and the draw went to charity, raising a total of rmb6,840 or 68,400 mao. Thanks to George Zhou of Q Bar for hosting the event.

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