In the answer to question 'Why do Chinese people always say "wine" when referring to any alcoholic beverage?' GWC said "We do not know, but we will kill the person that taught them this in the 1930's if we can find out their name." The real answer is simple. The Chinese use the word "jiu" for "any alcoholic beverage". Whenever they use "wine" in this fashion they are using it for "jiu". Wine in Chinese would be grape "jiu"; Beer, Beer "jiu", and so forth. Obviously one of the meani gs of wine is translated as "jiu" into Chinese and it is sure a lot easier to say than "any alcoholic beverage" or even ¡°alcohol¡± (translated more often as a chemical substance than drinks) for them. So it is easy to see why this mistake is common for t ose Chinese who have only learned their English from textbooks and classrooms.