Student dies after binge drinking with supervisor

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A 26-year-old student from Jiangsu University has died on Sunday allegedly after binge drinking at a dinner party.

Shi Guoping, a postgraduate student from the university’s School of Electrical and Information Engineering, was immediately rushed to the hospital after he collapsed in the dormitory hours after he returned from the party. He was later declared dead.

Hours earlier, Shi was drinking with some 50 other students, including four campus mentors. They supposedly drank 18 bottles of wine within four hours’ time.

Receipt provided by the restaurant / China News Photo

According to the receipt provided by the restaurant, the guests had guzzled 18 bottles of wine, which included 13 flasks of strong white liquor.

“I could barely eat today as I’m going to drink all the way,” Shi had texted his girlfriend about the drink fest.

“I’m sitting with my boss,” he added referring to his university mentor, Mr. Zhu, who was also socializing with the students.

But hours later, the hospital pronounced him dead, according to a statement released by Jiangsu University on Tuesday. There was no further information on the cause of death and the university announcement didn’t mention that the students were consuming alcohol.

Messages sent by Shi to his girlfriend / China News Photo

It is not clear how much alcohol was present in Shi’s system. The Chinese Nutrition Society recommends 25g, which is equivalent to 750mL beer or 250mL wine, or 75g of white spirits with 38 percent alcohol content, as the safe drinking limit for male adults.

Though drinking has been a part of the Chinese culture, changing lifestyle and increasing economic independence has led to more alcohol consumption.

A 2013 survey by the World Health Organization revealed that 55.6 percent of men and 15 percent of women drank, while 62.7 percent of men and 51 percent of women reported excessive drinking.

The restaurant where Shi had attended the dinner / China News Photo

Reports of alcohol-related deaths, especially among young people, have been reported in media time and again.

In 2013, an 18-year-old student from Jinhua Polytechnic in Wenzhou, east China’s Jiangsu Province died after a drinking session with fellow students. Last May, a 20-year-old from Ningde Vocational and Technical College in southeast Fujian Province died after binge drinking with his roommates.

Following Shi’s death, his parents have blasted his mentor for being reckless.

“How could a teacher let his student drink that much?” questioned his mother, adding that her son never drank baiju, the traditional white liquor, at home.

In response to the allegations, Zhu claimed he never urged Shi to drink heavily during dinner.

“I don’t even drink white liquor myself for my stomach illness,” Zhu said. “I was also grieved in losing one of my best students, whom I had just recommended as a PhD candidate.”‍

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