A girl who works at a KTV bar in Dongguan’s Chang’an Town is in a vegetative state after necking a 700 ml bottle of foreign alcohol to win a 5,000 RMB bet with a customer, a court was told Tuesday (Nov. 12). The family is seeking a combined total of 450,000 RMB in compensation from both the customer who challenged her and the KTV at which the incident took place in March, Southern Metropolis Daily reports.

Xiao Mo, 26, started vomiting violently shortly after she had finished downing the liquor but she wasn’t taken to hospital until four hours later. She then descended into a vegetative state, and her family have appealed to the Social Security Administration to get help covering the medical fees. The Dongguan No. 2 People’s Court is yet to set a date for the trial.

Tang Shengli from Guangdong-based law firm Baowei told the paper that both Xiao Mo and the customer Mr. Liu were responsible for the accident. She should have been aware of the dangers of excessive alcohol consumption and known how much drink she was capable of taking, according to Tang.

Tang cast doubt on whether the KTV should be made to take responsibility because the victim was an adult and drinking with customers wasn’t part of her job description so it probably can’t be considered a workplace injury.

Is it time for China to learn that ganbei-ing is only suitable for baijiu? Are such tragedies the result of a culture of macho drinking? Is it a waste to simply neck foreign alcohol (which is expensive by definition)?

What do you think?