Power pijiu! Super Beers for Books in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai

Note: Poster made by the organizers, not the participating venues, who all have much nicer artwork! Updated poster coming soon.

Craft brew venues around China will team up November 4 to support two good causes. Boxing Cat in Shanghai, WE Brewery in Tianjin and Arrow Factory, Dirty Duck, Great Leap and Slow Boat in Beijing will all participate in a Maovember fundraiser to support Good Works and Library Project, with more venues expected to join the campaign.

The event is a riff on “beers for books” events held worldwide, where a set amount of money from each beer sold is donated to a charity like Library Project or Room to Read. Except this time the event involves multiple venues and multiple cities and is essentially Super Beers for Books.

The concept is simple: each venue donates rmb10 or more beer sold on November 4. Venues also have the option of doing a fun activity to raise a bit more money, like our (at times hilarious) darts challenge at this year’s opening party or mini beer pong or liar’s dice or a raffle or a beer nog session (hmm, maybe skip that last one). That’s optional. The key is to raise money for charity from people drinking nice delicious beer.

We’ll have more details by the end of the week. And if you are a craft beer venue and want to get involved, give us a shout at nihao (at) maovember.com.

Vive le difference! France vs China blind wine tasting at Cafe de la Poste

Cafe de la Poste is back with an all-new lineup of French and Chinese labels for this year’s blind wine tasting classic. Last year’s tasting featured four French wines versus entry-level options from Shandong, Shanxi, Ningxia and Xinjiang in China. This year, expect some higher-end wines added to the mix.

Think you can tell the difference between French and Chinese wine? Or just want to enjoy fine vino and fellowship? Then RSVP for one of the 16 spots by scanning the QR code in the poster below or calling 6402-7047. The tasting is rmb100, with all proceeds to Maovember.

After the tasting, enjoy “coffee shots” (coffee, vodka and Kahlua) made with java from 2016 partner Good Works, for rmb20, or check out a virtual activity, also for rmb20, with all funds to charity.

See the recap of last year’s event here!

Beard Mania! | Shaizi contest, Shave vs No Shave & hairy discounts at Beer Mania

Beer Mania has returned to Maovember with a second Shave vs No Shave campaign, discounts for pin wearers and yesterday’s Liar’s Dice Challenge. The challenge was a last-minute idea and seemed a gamble but Beer Mania agreed to, ahem, roll the dice and host an event that turned out to be competitive and fun. Celebrating China’s quintessential drinking game, shaizi, each competitor player three rounds, with winners moving up the ladder, losers dropping into the consolation pool and everyone drinking a lot of Grissette.

The gold medal match pitted newcomer Dustin (above right), a chef whose dice cooked up sweet combos all afternoon, against Arkin (above left), whose experience and bluffing skills won him the title.

The bronze medal match saw local fave Lei (above middle) narrowly lose to dice master Thomas (above left). Beer Mania owner Thierry De Dobbeleer (top right) awarded the prizes, including large format bottles of Saint Feuillien abbey beer and a three-liter keg of Grissette. In the end, the earnings from entry fees and beers totaled rmb1500.

Then there’s the return of the Shave vs No Shave campaign:

If you want Thierry to get rid of his beard, donate to the Shave jar. If you want him to retain it, and the complex ecosystem it no doubt houses, then put your cash into No Shave. I got a feeling which side Thierry hopes wins:

Finally, customers wearing Maovember pins at Beer Mania get discounts. If you are wearing the 2016 pin, you get 10 percent off. Pins from 2016 and 2015 get 15 percent while also having the 2014 pin increases that discount to 20 percent. And if you have pins from all four years—2013 through 2016—you bill is reduced by 25 percent. Maybe use those savings to vote in the Shave vs No Shave contest?

Point of delivery | Get your Maovember pin through Sherpa’s in Beijing

Too busy to get to one of our Maovember events and get your 2016 pin? From October 24 through November 19, you can help the cause in Beijing from the comfort of your own home or office via food delivery company Sherpa’s. Spot one of the Sherpa’s couriers with a pin and you can buy it on the spot for rmb50. (Cash only for the moment.) So, next time you get food from Sherpa;s, including from Maovember partners like Arrow Factory, Jing-A and Q Mex, consider getting a side order of pin.

Moment of truth | Liar’s Dice Tournament at Beer Mania

Fancy yourself as a bullshit artist? Then sign up for the first Maovember Liar’s Dice Tournament, set for Saturday, October 22, at Beer Mania. It’s a 24-player event, starting with four groups of six players. The first three people in each group to lose ten games head off to the consolation rounds while the remaining three continue sailing toward victory. The entry fee is a 100-kuai donation to Maovember and gets each player at least three rounds of dice plus 1.5 liters of Grisette beer! RSVP is essential: use the QR code in the attached poster to book your space.

Vive le difference | France and China wine tasting at Cafe de la Poste

It’s a similar theme but a whole new lineup as Cafe de la Poste will once again hold a blind tasting of French and Chinese wines. Think you can tell the difference between the two? Or just want to enjoy fine vino and fellowship? Then save the date, October 27, and head over to this veteran Beixinqiao establishment. The tasting is rmb100, with all proceeds to Maovember. Reserve a spot by calling 6402-7047. And see a recap of last year’s tasting here.

Events | Maovember gets a slice of the action at Pizza Cup

The Beijinger held its annual Pizza Cup over the weekend and gave Maovember a booth so the pie guzzling, craft beer gulping, music listening masses could learn a bit more about this year’s mission to help Good Works and Library Project.

Things went up a few notches yesterday with some fierce corn toss action. Contestants got four shots for rmb20 and won prizes donated by neighboring booth CHEERS, including key rings, bottle openers and bottles of wine, as well as picnic blankets from The Beijinger.

The team at Kentucky Ale carried over a cooler of IPA, and later some pumpkin ale, for Maovember to sell. The corn toss and beer raised rmb680 and rmb860 respectively.

Here are a few photos from the event:

The look of fierce determination on this competitor’s face says it all. It’s rmb20 for four shots and every one of them is crucial.

Patrick Lin of Kentucky Ale donates a cooler of beer for Maovember to sell. Alex Jennings looks pretty happy about it.

It’s one point for landing on the board, two points for being partially over the hole and three points for going all the way in. It took seven points from four shots to earn a bottle of wine and a surprising number of first-timers did it.

The Maovember booth also sold pins. Here are two buyers, Oliver Davies and Terry Crossman, striking poses in front of the striking Wangjing SOHO.

The corn toss attracted plenty of observers. The board came courtesy of Irish Volunteer / Hockey Bar.

Thanks to The Beijinger for the booth, to CHEERS for the prizes (and the funky music by Owen Daniel) and to Kentucky Ale for the beer. Maovember’s Zach Lewison, Edouard Simon, Alex Jennings and Jim Boyce all pulled shifts during the two-day event. See more about Maovember’s upcoming events here.

Events | Maovember 2016 kicks off with XL-ent party

Maovember 2016 kicked off last Friday with pins, games and drinks at XL Restaurant & Bar. The event raised rmb1940 through darts and rmb400 through picklebacks and saw over 100 pins sold. Bar and restaurant reps picked up pin packages and there were lots of individual donors, too. See this collage for pics of some of this year’s pin buyers and below for pics from this year’s launch party.

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Paul Rochon and Zach Lewison were first on the scene at XL and tested the “bloodsucker” cocktails made by XL manager Jane Cui.

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Maovember’s Paul Rochon and Jim Boyce with XL Restaurant & Bar owner Jane Cui and the fancy new banner.

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There were plenty of individual donors, including veteran Maovember supporter Ailish (center), who bought ten pins.

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Restaurant and bar reps grabbed packages of ten pins or more, including from Cafe de la Poste, Punjabi, Beer Mania, Home Plate Barbecue, Paddy O’Shea’s, CHEERS and Irish Volunteer.

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Tyler Roessel was winner of some nice glassware due to his stunning darts score. He was also the first person to buy a pin at the launch party.

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Petar from the Australia embassy won a half-dozen prizes through the darts games–and bought ten pins. Jack Zhou helped run the games.

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Prizes included bubbly donated by CHEERS and “bloodsucker” drinks made by Jane Cui. Proceeds from pickleback sales also went to charity.

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This year’s Steering Group: Zach Lewison, Edouard Simon, Alex Jennings, Paul Rochon and Jim Boyce. The sixth member, Steven Schwankert, will be back to Beijing soon!

Thanks again to Jane Cui of XL for hosting the launch party and to everyone who provided support.