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Nobody drinks alone at the table
Chinese drinking is collective and structured. You do not sip whenever you feel like it; you drink when someone toasts, and toasts travel around the table in an order that follows seniority. 干杯 means the glass is emptied, so use the word deliberately. Clinking the rim of your glass below the other person's is a small act of deference, and the more junior person lowers theirs. Refusing needs a reason — driving, medicine, doctor's orders — and any of those is accepted. Toasting with tea instead is entirely normal.