Beijing — Gov. Sonny Perdue doesn't drink alcohol. Doesn't keep it at the Governor's Mansion. Doesn't support Sunday liquor sales.

But the people who do business in China often booze it up at honorary banquets in a way that would make a fraternity boy blush. And they expect their guests to participate.

Craig Simons/Cox News Service (ENLARGE)

Governor Sonny Perdue and Chen Xiao, a professor at Tsinghua University, talk in Beijing.

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"If you don't get drunk, they think they haven't done their jobs," said Bill Harris, who oversees the Coweta County Development Authority and was a delegate on Perdue's just-completed trade mission to China.

That peculiar pairing — a teetotaling chief executive and a booze-driven business culture — creates a minor dilemma for the state's chief executive.

Perdue, however, said he has devised a solution — a tiny sip here, a tiny sip there. And never, ever empty your glass.

"I just lift the glass to my lips," he said in an interview during his China trip. "If you empty the glass, they think you want more."

The governor said the primary aim of the mission was to build good relationships with the Chinese, which included honoring their social customs and business practices.

"We'll participate politely and respectfully in the toasts," he said. "We're not coming to make statements. We're coming to participate in the cultural activities here."

Plying your guests with alcohol is considered highly hospitable in China. It's thought of as a way of building business relationships, like playing golf or meeting for cocktails in the United States.

Dennis Kelly, president and chief executive of Zoo Atlanta, has made several trips to China and was on the trade mission with Perdue. Kelly said the custom of a dozen or more toasts can leave the guest of honor reeling.

On one China trip, Kelly said he attended 13 banquets in 13 nights.

At every stop, Kelly said, his Chinese hosts insisted on multiple — sometimes 15 or more — toasts with baijiu, a potent white liquor that is more than 50 percent alcohol.

"I tried to participate in every toast, but I learned quickly to switch to red wine after the first one, and I would only sip that," he said.

Often, especially outside the big cities where banquet drinking is more raucous, Kelly said his hosts insisted that sipping was not acceptable.

"The would start shouting 'ganbei,' which means 'bottoms up' or 'dry cup,' " he said. "And about halfway through, I would say, 'I just can't drink any more.' "

At some banquets, the Chinese hosts will permit you to employ a stand-in for the toasts — a sort of designated drinker. That appeals to some Americans who drink but can't tolerate the taste of baijiu.

"It tastes like paint thinner," said Chris Burch, who grew up in South Georgia and now lives and works in China.

Many vital U.S.-China relations blossomed over baijiu. The late President Richard Nixon downed it with Zhou Enlai during Nixon's historic trip in 1972.

Nixon and Zhou — so the story goes — looked into each other's cups after each toast to make sure the other had drained every drop.

— Cox Asia Bureau Chief Craig Simons contributed to this article.