There were dragons everywhere…but more of them were sober this year than previously and most were in shop windows rather than the result of the DTs. Let me explain. There is a tradition at Chinese New Year that many of the PRC's adult males engage in over the week long holiday to welcome in, this year, the dragon. It's called getting well and truly smashed on baijiu. Baijiu…white spirits…actually a distilled liquor of generally 40-60% alcohol by volume (or about 80-120 proof in old money!). The mere thought of it sends involuntary spasms to the throat of many of us who've endured years of business banqueting, baijiutoasting and going home distinctly worse the wear and with a severely knackered liver. Tom Brokaw, the American newsreader who came to China in 1972 on the groundbreaking Nixon visit, called it, quite simply and quite aptly, "liquid razorblades".

Basically the evil stuff - the main brands are Maotai, Wulingye, or (and I urge you to avoid this low-end brand at all costs) Red Star Erguotou - is forced upon everyone - you refuse for a while in mock face saving gesture and an "oh no I couldn't possibly" routine. Then it's a shot glass full down in one to a chorus of "Ganbei", a cross between "cheers" and "down in one". Those left standing then eat a bit before repeating the process ad infinitum or until the last guest is left standing. Then, traditionally in the old days (which in China is two years ago), many guests would get in their car and attempt to drive home. This did not improve the carnage on China's roads!

But that's all changing now. China has zero tolerance on drink driving - indeed it translates as "drink" rather than "drunk" driving - i.e. no minimum units, just no alcohol or you're busted. This has had several effects. First of all it appears the cops have been told to get serious - several high level Communist Party cadres have been busted after thinking that the law was just for the little people and not them. Meanwhile some of the giant edge-of-town multi-storey Chinese restaurants and karaoke palaces claim they've gone out of business as people can no longer turn up, show off their Merc and then drive home under the influence. However, the chauffeur business is booming at the high end.

For many of us though, the best sign that this crackdown on drunk driving is real is that we now have a new tradition. As the baijiuflows you simply take out your car keys (on an ostentatious BMW or Louis Vuitton key ring of course) wave them about and, so it seems, get an exemption from the ensuing carnage. This has swiftly become an acceptable reason to refuse the liquid razorblades - I've spent Chinese New Year waving my car keys across drunken tables…and I haven't even got a car!! Everyone else was too plastered to notice me slip into a cab at the end of the evening.

The dragon has arrived…!