No longer just a problem of not being able to get away from a police check ("you drunk or not?")... that's right, the authorities have stepped up the "don't drink and drive" campaign big time. It used to be that if you knew the cop who stopped you that you could get away, but the authorities now have put that first line of defence away — so if you're stopped and drunk, good bye!

There are probably very few or, in actual fact, zero expats who are heads of government organizations in Beijing, but here's something "of note" anyway: the situation is now so bad that officials have publicly stated that public servants may be dismissed if found drunk — or even if they've had "just a little" to drink and have not ended up drunk. Government organizations are now thinking about dismissing folks who work there after two counts.

We guess it's probably a sign of things to come. From the point of your Beijingologist, he'd like to see companies adopt a zero-tolerance policy where an offender is instantly dismissed if convicted (that's the case even if the offender wasn't drunk) of driving after a helping of alcohol. No discussions — drinking and driving never went together as one. Add to that 10,890 folks who ended up behind bars (since the "strike hard" campaign started in December 2006) — and you can see how serious the situation is.