Lang Kwai Fong - the area in Hong Kong where you go to drink before you hit the really seedy bars - used to be a good gauge of how happy and confident expatriates were. According to an Australian banker, in the 1990s it was busy during the good times and quiet during the bad. These days, though, expats have changed their drinking habits.
"In 1998 during the financial crisis you could fire a gun down the street and not hit anybody, it was so quiet," says the banker. "But it's different now. Even though times are really tough, the place is packed on Fridays. Everyone is drinking to forget how bad it is."
That means, of course, that it's not bad for everyone. Patricio de la Fuenta Saez, a director of Links Concept Company, an importer of wines, spirits and Red Bull, says that business is good. Links' sales actually rose 65% last year. And he claims some of his most successful months were when the Hang Seng really tanked.
Tastes, like the stock market, have dropped a notch or two. "Before 1998 cognac was the most popular spirit in Hong Kong.