baijiu cocktails. Owners Andrew Chiu and Andrew Wong felt that it's an important part of Chinese dining culture. Their goal is for America to develop an appreciation through cocktails first and gradually transition to enjoying the liquor on its own. Baijiu and Chinese business culture Chinese business culture is known to be intense. It is believed that one's true self is shown when intoxicated. Therefore, when negotiating a business partnership, there is a tradition of serving high-degree Baijiu on the dinner table, in order to judge one's trustworthiness. There are also folk beliefs, especially in rural China, that consuming alcohol excessively equates to manliness and that one should not reject a serving offered by an elderly or higher-up. Many inexperienced Chinese drinkers are persuaded to overdrink on such occasions. These experiences are commonly referred to as the reason for Baijiu's unpopularity among some. This negative association of Baijiu with extreme drinking culture can sometimes lead to fear of Baijiu in the younger generation or people who have yet to try the drink. Pricing and the baijiu market Although most baijiu are priced similarly to other liquors with similar alcohol percentage, some high-end baijiu can be highly collectible due to the intricate skills and traditional artisanship involved in the making of baijiu, the age of the baijiu, or the rarity of the bottle etc. With the gifting tradition in some areas of China, sometimes expensive baijiu could also be gifted instead of being consumed. There is a sizable market for high-end baijiu collection for the above reasons. For example, the highest grade of Wuliangye retails for (US$3,375). Top-tier baijiu are likely to be from traditional baijiu distillery such as Kweichow Maotai, Wuliangye, Luzhou Laojiao, Shuijing Fang etc. On the opposite side of the spectrum. Low-end baijiu can be as inexpensive as a can of beer per volume. For example, Erguotou and Jiang Xiaobai. Although some deride the low ends for their taste, they are more casually consumed with meals, or just when drinkers want to simply get drunk. Global baijiu market Baijiu is the world's bestselling liquor, with sold as of 2016, and 10.8 billion liters sold in 2018, more than whisky, vodka, gin, rum and tequila combined. As well as the most consumed liquor, with 1.2 billion nine-liter cases consumed in 2018, mostly in China - three times the global consumption of vodka. Outside of China it is gaining popularity,