Recap | Mulled Wine Marathon at CHEERS

About the time the month-long Maovember campaign starts, the weather starts getting chilly in Beijing, sometimes dropping below zero, and few things help fight off that cold like a piping hot mug of mulled wine. For the third year in a row, the shop chain CHEERS used this popular winter drink to support our mission. In 2013, it served mulled wine from one of it’s Sanlitun stores on the final day of our campaign. In 2014, it upped the effort to two stores over several weekends and added a mulled wine drinking game based on the movie The Big Lebowski. And this year, it took things even further by holding a three-day mulled wine marathon in all 15 shops in Beijing. The result: a whopping rmb10,000 donation to Maovember, with the photo below showing the staff celebrating this achievement with owner Claudia Masueger!

Recap | France-China Wine Challenge at Cafe de la Poste

Wine aficionados tested their palates during Maovember when they gathered at Cafe de la Poste to see if they could tell French and Chinese wines apart. Each participant paid rmb100, which was donated to charity, and then blind-tasted four pairs of wine, with each including a French and a Chinese pour. There was plenty of discussion and debate — and general agreement that picking wines with labels unseen is no easy task!

The French wines were donated by Cafe de la Poste while the Chinese wines were donated by East Meets West (Chateau Nine Peaks), Torres China / Everwines (Grace Vineyard), 1421 Wines (1421) and Grape Wall of China (Kanaan).

Adding even more fun to the evening, Cafe de la Poste hosted “Office Basket-Bola“. People paid rmb 5 to write their name on a piece of paper, scrunch it up, and then take a shot at the bucket on the bar’s top shelf. Every shot that went in resulted in a prize of a free shot of booze.

All in all, wine, basket-bola and donations totaled rmb1664.8!

Recap | Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament at 4 Corners

Maovember 2015 4 Corners Hold 'Em Tournament Beijing China

Two dozen poker aficionados tried their hand at winning a no-holds-barred Texas hold ’em tournament last Sunday at 4 Corners to benefit Maovember. The players were focused (see above photo), only taking breaks to switch tables and knock back tasty Bloody Caesar shots (think Bloody Mary but with tomato juice including clam broth a.k.a. Clamato). The buy-in of rmb100 person went to charity as did proceeds from the shots and, along with donations, meant a jackpot of rmb3500 for Maovember. Well-played, 4 Corners!

Recap | Magnum P.I. Night at Bungalow Tiki Bar

Tiki bar Bungalow laughed in winter’s face on November 25 by holding a Magnum P.I. Party to support Maovember. The night’s festivities included limbo dancing and the chance to get lei’d for 20 kuai. The bar also sold shots of Plantation and Santa Teresa at 10 kuai each, all funds to charity, then used the extra stock to rack up more donations after the event. Alex Jennings won a bottle for best costume: she dressed up as both Dobermans — Zeus and Apollo — owned by Higgins, a key character in Magnum P.I., he of mustache legend. Inspired by tiki drinks and one of the best eighties shows, Bungalow raised rmb1495 for Maovember.

Event | Road hockey, open mic and picklebacks at Paddy O’Shea’s

Celebrate a month of mustaches by joining the Maovember party at Paddy O’Shea’s on Tuesday. We’re looking a full slate of fun, including:

A hockey shootout. Get three shots for 50 kuai against the goalie from Paddy-sponsored hockey team the Oilers. Go top shelf, slip it through the five hole, deke him out — do whatever it takes to score.
A pickleback bar. Get a shot of Jameson whiskey paired with a shot of pickle juice for just 20 kuai.
Pies. Word is Two Guys will be on hand and selling their tasty treats for Maovember.
There will also be an open mic, with a handful of acts already slated to perform. And a last chance to get your 2015 Maovember pin — rmb50 each, all proceeds to charity — a fashion item that works with almost any ensemble.

For directions and contact details for Paddy O’Shea’s, click here.

Recap | Mr Maovember at Home Plate BBQ

Home Plate BBQ hosted the facial hair affair of the season last Saturday. The first-ever Mr Maovember Contest saw plaques awarded in a number of categories, from ‘best styled mustache‘ to ‘best business beard‘. Each contestant took the stage to announce the category in which he was competing and to tell personal facial-hair related stories, whether it was a much-loved ‘stache style or how a celebrity — say, Tom Selleck — had inspired him. Both contestants and observers also enjoyed a range of beverages from Jing-A, Karl Strauss, Kentucky Bourbon Ale and Table & Vine, with proceeds going to charity. When the last award was given and the last Four Pillars G&T, Fireball shot and craft brew consumed, 1880.5 kuai had been raised for Maovember.

Events | Texas hold ’em tournaments at 4corners and Tim’s Texas Bar-B-Q

Poker fans can double their fun in one week with two, count ’em, two Texas Hold ‘Em tournaments for Maovember.

The first is this Sunday, November 29, at 4 Corners. There’s a 100-kuai buy-in donation to Maovember, with prizes for the top three players. And expect charity drinks, too — word is there will be Bloody Caesar shots, eh! Tournament starts at 6 PM sharp, so get there at least 30 minutes early, and have a shot or two to still yer nerves. (Click here for a map.)

The second tournament is one week later, on December 6, at Tim’s Texas Bar-B-Q. There’s a rmb500 buy-in for this one, which gets players six hours of free drinks and bar-b-q. The tournament is limited to the first 24 people who sign up and, with two-thirds of the buy-in pool to charity and one-third to prizes, the goal is to raise rmb8,000 for Maovember. The first hand gets dealt at 3 PM. Click here for a map.

Events | Beer Mania, Boxing Cat, Arrow Factory, Cafe de la Poste, Line 5 Pub Crawl!

Not all venues follow the traditional Maovember route of pairing drink specials with activities like quizzes, beer pong tournaments, paper airplane contests and Mr Maovember contests. Some run fundraisers of their own and then donate the proceeds.

thierry de dobbeleer maovember beer mania beijing china

Beard aficionado Thierry de Dobbeleer of Beer Mania has been holding a “To Shave or Not to Shave” campaign all month long. He has two jars for donations: one for those who want his impressive whiskers gone and one for those who want them to grow until next November and thus reach Amazon forest levels. The jar with the most money at month’s end wins. He also has all drink specials for those sporting mustaches, beards, ~~thongs~~ and hats.

boxing cat screenshot maovember post.jpg

Meanwhile, Boxing Cat Brewery in Shanghai is donating 10 percent of all beer sales on November 29 at its locations in Sinan Mansions, Yong Fu and Hong Qiao. To find the one closest to you, click here. Michael Jordan of Boxing Cat was also one of this year’s individual donors.

Beijing craft brew operation Arrow Factory also used its beer for a good cause. Earlier this month, it siphoned off the revenue from the first 25 beers sold and donated it to Maovember. That raised rmb1025.40.

By the way, brewer Thomas Gaestadius has some pretty mean facial hair himself.

And while Cafe de la Poste held its China-France wine tasting more than a week ago, it’s still in fundraising mode. The staff have been opening the extra bottles and selling the wine at rmb40 per glass, with proceeds to Maovember. I’ll have an update soon.

Finally, this weekend’s 5 kuai from select drinks during the Line 5 Thanksgiving Pub Crawl on Saturday, November 28, go to Maovember. Here’s the slate: Pub crawl passport pickup at Slow Boat at 3 PM, then Distillery at 4:15 PM, Cuju at 5:30 PM, Capital Spirits at 6:45 PM, Mas at 8 PM, Bungalow at 9:15 PM and Cafe de la Poste at 10:30 PM.