The Straggler: White Lightning

I SEE that the highest grades of Chinese baijiu (“white liquor”-it’s pronounced bye-jee-oh) were retailing at over $3,000 a bottle this Lunar New Year. It is good to know that all the T-bonds we have been shipping over there are having their coupons put to use.

This particular extravagance probably seems baffling to non-Chinese who have had some slight acquaintance with baijiu. General opinion among round-eyes is that while the stuff is probably very efficacious at stripping the rust off bolts, it is not fit for human consumption.

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John Derbyshire

Mr. Derbyshire is a former contributing editor of National Review.

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I SEE that the highest grades of Chinese baijiu (“white liquor”-it’s pronounced bye-jee-oh) were retailing at over $3,000 a bottle this Lunar New Year. It is good to know that all the T-bonds we have been shipping over there are having their coupons put to use.

This particular extravagance probably seems baffling to non-Chinese who have had some slight acquaintance with baijiu. General opinion among round-eyes is that while the stuff is probably very efficacious at stripping the rust off bolts, it is not fit for human consumption.