ineBasketball is huge in China. Huge! And it’s not just Jeremy Lin and Yao Ming who get the fans. I’ve seen billboards featuring the Olympic team, commercials with Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin Love, and, of course, Harbin NBA Beer sold almost everywhere.
It’s pretty cheap; I can buy a 500ml bottle from the local market for about 4 yuan, which is roughly $0.75.
By the way, here’s something that really cracks me up. There’s a boy who works at the market with his parents who doesn’t look to be older than five, and he not only handles the transaction, he’ll pop the top for me. Contrast this to the states, where the checker at the Jewel has to call over a manager to swipe a 12-pack of MGD 64 (not much stronger than ginger ale) and where Trader Joe’s once refused to sell me wine because I walked over with cash in my pocket but no drivers license.
It’s all so freaky, isn’t it? And it’s not like the American puritanism is keeping kids from using and abusing alcohol, either.
By the way, Harbin NBA isn’t much stronger than MGD 64. And that’s fine by me.
