There’s a sign on a door in an alley in Chinatown somewhere that reads “24 Hour surveillance.” The adjacent apartment building is guarded with a line of dumpsters and the occasional outpost of a black, plastic rat trap. In windows next to fire escapes, signs divulge karate studios and other businesses which wouldn’t stand up to the scrutiny of street level advertisement. The door bangs open and we drop down a staircase into another such business, known only as ‘The Basement’. 

Here was someone’s living room turned into a private karaoke lounge, where Covid-19 restrictions did not apply because no other laws applied. The bar was a closet full of bottles and the bartender, a middle aged Malaysian woman, would only get up from watching soap operas if money was going to change hands. ‘The Basement’ represented a true speakeasy, but one that catered exclusively to a community of Chinese, mostly students, who lived in the city. Here I was, singing karaoke on a Sunday night and learning a drinking game called ‘Lying.’

Chui Niu or Da Hua Shai is a staple at Chinese karaoke bars and drinking parties. Any karaoke bar that is up to snuff in China should have cups and dice for drinkers to play. At this underground karaoke in America, I was initiated into the rites of this drinking game by a man who was eager to get a new-comer drunk. At a Chinese drinking party, it is unacceptable to take a drink alone, except if you’ve lost a game. I lost many times and drank my fair share of Hennesey mixed with green tea. 

How to play: Chui Niu or Lying Dice

What you will need: 2 cups and 10 6-sided dice

Game play: Both players place 5 dice into a cup. Shake. Flip the cup upside down on the table and look at your roll without showing the dice to the other player. If every dice has rolled a different number, you may show your opponent the roll and then re-roll. Otherwise, continue with the dice as rolled.

One player states how many of a single number has been rolled (3 2s, 2 4s, etc.) between all 10 dice, the opponent must respond by either increasing the quantity of the same number stated or naming an identical quantity of a higher number (if Player A started with 3 2s Player B could say 3 of another number higher than two or could say 4 of any number). The goal is to catch the opponent in a lie meaning that the number that they have stated exceeds the actual number rolled. If a player believes that the opponent has overstated the quantity rolled, the player can say “Open” and both players show their dice.

1s are wild and can be any other number in the game. When stating the count of a dice roll, a player must say “Natural” or “Wild” after the count to indicate if that number is including 1s (3 4s Natural versus 3 4s Wild, the latter would include any 1s that were rolled between the two players). If players state their count as natural, the normal rules for what the next player can say apply. If a player states their count as wild, the opponent may reduce the quantity stated by 1 if the new count is Natural (Player 1 says 4 4s Wild, Player 2 can say 3 4s Natural if it had no previously been higher than that.) If a player responds to a Natural count with wild, however, then they must increase the count by 2. If a player opens with a wild count, the quantity must be greater than or equal to 3.