Throwback Thursday: When Getting Drunk at Home Got a Lot Easier

Throwback Thursday takes a look back into Beijing's past, using our nine-year-strong blog archives as the source for a glance at the weird and wonderful of yesteryear.

"我问一下，Do you deliver?" should be one of the first questions asked whenever you find a new restaurant or fruit store you like. Since finding one of the small import stores that deliver sugar-free yogurt, kale, and wine, I rarely do my grocery shopping from anywhere else but my couch. If they only delivered wine, it would probably be worth it anyway. 

While we already have no real reasons to leave our house, other than cabin fever or someone's wedding, five years ago it was not all that easy. The glasses, flutes, and pints of Beijingers started merrily clanging over the opening of an alcohol delivery service in Beijing, simply titled Kuai Pijiu ("Fast Beer"). While we think there is some great Chinese beer (dark or unfiltered Tsingtao bottles stand strong), sometimes you just need a little taste of home while cracking open that cold one, whether the boys are there or not. 

Kuai Pijiu specialized in imported ales and beers. Most of the selection was German and Eastern European beers, while non-continental European options may have been too much 麻烦 and gotten left behind. They seemed to mostly sell in large quantities, meaning you were more likely to stock up in advance than order a few bottles when your night with the aforementioned boys is already in full swing. They would only deliver up until 7pm, and if your party was already too lit by that time for you to leave the house on a beer run, well, we are not here to judge.

The most satisfying thing to do is to look back and appreciate how comfortable we have it in 2017. The website of Kuai Pijiu was only in Chinese and obviously did not have a smartphone app or WeChat mini-program. The website seems to have been shut down or changed address as of now, likely drowned out by the over-supply of delivery apps available today. 

Now, anyone who has gotten through the rough patch of setting up Meituan on their phone can get beers and other alcohol delivered from local stores by navigating the app with the help of pictures. The most rewarding thing about learning to use Meituan (or other delivery apps) is that they sprinkle some hongbaos on their users once in a while and that beer might end up costing around RMB 1. 

For someone who is not willing to struggle with a Chinese app interface, you can always turn to Sherpa's, whose more premium (as in simply more expensive, but also more internationally friendly) and slower service, will get those bottles to your door eventually. Keep an eye open for happy hours and other promotions to help you curb the cost. 

More by the author here.

Images: Just A Car Guy, Tech in Asia, Youtube