Questions, Comments and Ideas - webmaster@hkcinema.co.uk

I suppose the most obvious way of creating some drinking games for a Hong Kong film website would be to sit and watch some films and then create some forfeits (ie. someone drinks) whenever something particular happens on screen. I don't know something like whenever Jackie attempts a stupidly dangerous stunt (beware when watching "My Stunts"). Or maybe when he uses inordinate amounts of agility when a simpler option is available, like running up bamboo scaffolding instead of taking the stairs. Well anyway this being my section I have decided to do this a bit differently. Although this will be far more difficult I am going to try and broaden all of your cross cultural drinking game knowledge by teaching you all some Cantonese drinking games. Actually I will probably also try to come up with some forfeits to go alongside the watching of movies, as this will be a bit easier then these games I suspect.

Ok so here goes I am going to try to provide the rules for the game. They are not amazingly complex, however there is the obvious problem of the language barrier that is a little difficult to overcome.

1. The game is based on having 2 players.
2. It works on the principal of combing hand actions and calling out things in Cantonese.
3. And the game is won by tricking your opponent into repeating or following your actions and calls twice in a row.

Having established these ground rules I shall now try and take you through the game I know.

Film Hero Drinking Game

Since this game is based around a series of three film heroes I thought it would be natural to start here. The game is played by 2 players and is based on calling out the Cantonese names of 3 film stars … Bruce Lee, Wong Fei Hung, Sylvester Stallone, and at the same time performing a hand action associated with the character.
- The game starts with Player 1 calling the name of any of the stars and doing a their hand action
- Player 2 at the same time has to do hand action of one of the characters. If this matches the action of Player 1 then Player 1 gets to call again.
- If the hand action is matched for a second time in a row then Player 2 takes a forfeit and has to drink some of their drink.
- If there is no match between the calling player's action and the opponent's action then the calling passes over to the opponent.
Ok that all sounds a bit simplistic doesn't it? Well the point is that you are supposed to build up a rhythm in the calling of the names, and then as you continue speed up. Also when you are drunk it gets harder and harder to follow what you are trying to do. Oh and I have not even begun to explain the Cantonese names or the actions required so you had better reserve judgment for a while.
Ok so here are the films stars with their names spelled phonetically (the way they sound) and the actions you have to do with each one. Remember you call the name twice and place the syllable 'ah' in the middle to help with the rhythm (don't ask me why you just do, ok).

Star Bruce Lee Call " Lay Siu Lung"
Action Use your thumb to flick your nose several times as Bruce does in almost all of his films.

Star Wong Fei Hung Call "Wong Fei Hung"
Action Have your hands out on each side with your palms forward (think 'Jazz hands) in the way that Jet Li holds a Wong Fei Hung pose in Once Upon a Time in China. Standing on one leg is an optional extra.

Star Sylvester Stallone Call "See Tai Lung"
Action Bring both hands together and mime a gun firing at your opponent.

That there is all the basics that you need to know to play the game. I will now try to describe a game to see if that helps to clarify things for you a bit more. Of course some video footage at this point of a game in progress would probably help everyone here, but I guess we will have to work on that one for the future. Anyway …

 

Calls: "Lay Siu Lung, ah Lay Siu Lung"

+ flicks nose with thumb

Action: Waves hands like WFH

 

Calls: "Wong Fei Hung, ah Wong Fei Hung"

Calls: " See Tai Lung, ah See Tai Lung"

 

Normally the losing player would start the calling again, so here goes Round 2…

Action: Flicks nose with thumb

 

Action: Flicks nose with thumb

 

(a crafty double bluff there from Player 2 tricks Player 1 into following them twice in a row, Player 1 has lost and must take a drink as a forfeit).

Action: Waves hands like WFH

 

Calls: " See Tai Lung, ah See Tai Lung"

+ makes gun shape with hands

Action: Does WFH action

Action: Fires imaginary gun

(here Player 2 lost because he matched Player 1's actions twice in a row… therefore Player 2 must drink)

 

Calls: "Lay Siu Lung, ah Lay Siu Lung"

+ flicks nose with thumb

Calls: "Lay Siu Lung, ah Lay Siu Lung"

+ flicks nose with thumb

The game continues like this and the players get more and more drunk. To make the game more interesting it helps to build the speed up as you play, this can make it pretty tense when each player has called several times and you are just waiting for the other person to make a mistake. Also try and develop a rhythm of how you call the names, as this is pretty important in making the game run smoothly.

Have a go, and by the way the HK Cinema website takes no responsibility for any of the drunken antics or associated hangovers you may subsequently suffer from.