A Spicy Battle of the Nations: TBJ's 7th Annual Chili Pepper Contest Needs You!

Come Saturday, Dec 2, the crowds will gather at Punjabi to see a spectacle unlike any other that Beijing has paid witness to. The electricity in the air may cause some to cry, others to gag, and even a few to vomit. Or maybe that's the chili. Yes, the Beijinger is proud to announce that we're teaming up with Maovember 2017 to bring you our seventh annual Hot Chili Pepper Eating Contest, and we're looking for brave souls to partake!

To make this our best competition yet, we need eight chili-loving, masochistic, or simply pain-resistant individuals to represent their nations in this ultimate chili battle. Think Mexicans are the ultimate chili-tamer Übermensch? Indians perhaps? How about Swedes?! There's only one way to find out, and that's by throwing your hat into the ring (of fire).

What those fearless and merciful burn-lovers will be required to do to win is eat and survive a selection of eight increasingly hot chili peppers. Whoever is able to neck all eight peppers – without encountering "unforeseen circumstances," to put it nicely – shall be crowned the 2017 chili pepper-eating champ and the god of spice.

If you think you have what it takes, send an email with your name, nationality, phone number, and details of your prior chili-eating experience (seriously, no noobs) to marketingteam@truerun.com.

As for the sadist onlookers, all you need to do is throw down RMB 100 and be treated to a massive Indian buffet spread courtesy of Punjabi. If you do so dare, we'll have chili pepper specimens on hand so you can live the contestants' pain. There'll also be Slow Boat beers and various shots on offer to wash the heat away, money from which will all go toward the Maovember cause and the chosen charities of Bread of Life and The Library Project.

Sign up by scanning the QR code via WeChat below
(spots are limited to 100, so be quick!):

Now to get you in the mood, some fun facts about chilies!:

• Our mouths burn when eating chilies because the bioactive compound found in them, capsaicin, binds with pain receptors and imitates the feeling of what it might be like to say, eat a ball of fire.
• Only mammals are sensitive to the burning effect caused by capsaicin, allowing birds to eat them and spread the chili's seeds.
• Some studies have shown that eating red chili pepper can significantly increase fat burning as well as reduce your body's calorie intake.
• Finally, chili pepper has been seen to both increase and decrease the risk of cancer (for the sake of the competition, we'll ignore that first part).

Images: the Beijinger