China Travel Forum

[Ali]

Sorry if this subject has been covered many times before but i'd really like some advice are the water situation in China. While in Russia I was extremely careful, ate no salads, showered with my mouth closed, brushed my teeth in bottled water etc. Do I need to be this careful in China? For example, if i'm offered Peking/Crispy Duck in a retaurant am I going to have to avoid the green stuff in cae it's been washed in tap water? Thanks in advance for any replies

[kamal]

You will be lucky to find a salad in the local restaurants in China (not unless you decide to eat exclusively at western fastfood/restaurants).
Chinese eat hot food. Ocassionally there will be cold nibbles on the table - to eat before the dishes come out. But as far a raw vegetables/fruit goes, this will be limited to some raw beans, cucumber and possibly nuts.
From what I understand the quality of the water when it leaves the treatment plant is of high quality. It is the infrastructure which can affect the quality of water which is delivered to taps. Some pipes are old and cracked, while other do not have backflow protection devices.
It is probably okay to use tap water for brushing teeth and rinsing your mouth (as long as you don't swallow the rince water) - we did for 12 months in numerous cities across China and had no problems - but if there was a known cholera outbreak, we would have been more careful. However to be on the safe side it is best to use cold boiled/bottled water for cleaning teeth and rinsing you mouth out. Boiled water is freely available (either delivered to rooms or can be boiled within the room).
In relation to Peking/Beijing Duck, it is served with shallots/spring onion and these have been washed and should be safe to eat.
Also, the amount of water left after washing food is limited and unlikely to case problems (the amount of microbes are unlikely to be high enough concentration to cause an infection).
I would suggest that fruit is peeled as the Chinese are know not to hold fruit for the specified pre-sale holding time (as required for some persticides). The peeling of fruit provides some protection to eating pesticides.
Also bottles water is freely available and cheap (costs from about 0.8RMB for 500mL). Avoid buying water at smaller backstreet stalls as the bottles may have been refilled. Best to stick buying water from supermarkets, bigger corner stores and department stores. The pprice of the water will be comparable to street prices, but the quality will be guaranteed.
Take some Imodium or similar medication. You may need to use it until your body adjusts to Chinese foods.
If you take normal precautions, you should be okay.

[BEORHTHILDE]

As indicated by kamal, there are several Western and Western want a bee restaurants that do serve uncooked veggies and have ice cubes that both should be OK as they are treated differently. The main thing woud be your smaller mom and pop types of places in the side streets that you should avoid the ice cubes and anything not cooked. I would agree that as a visitor you should brush and rinse with bottled or boiled water. After one have been in China for a few months, they will more than likely not have any problems rinsing with the tap water, but never should drink it directly out of the tap.
Veggies in China are grown with lots of night soil and liquids collected from the public bathrooms. The pesticides are also applied heavily and many things banned in Western countries are still used in China. It is best to always have the veggies cooked. McDonald's, KFC, large hotel restuarants, and the large duck places all provide fresh lettuce and the onions and should be OK.
Play everything on the safe side just as you would in any foreign country. The bugs are just different enough to cause extra stomach problems you really don't want to bother with.

[NELWIN]

You really don't need to be that careful and definately not in Russia either. Tabwater in Russia and China is good enough to brush and sing loudly while you take a shower. Indeed it can help you even build up resistence, but it definately won't make you sick. The problem with people in western countries is that they live to sterile. They shower every day, always wash their hands. Half of the baby's that are born in these countries are allergic to very common things like milk and many people travelling to non-western countries easily get sick, because they have no resistence anymore. So my advice: Take a shower every other day, don't wash your hands anymore before you eat and brush your teeth with tabwater in China!!!!!!!!!

[terrico]

It's important to be as sanitary minded all the time. I've been to places where washing my hands in the available sink would have probably made them dirtier. I always carry baby wipes and hand sanitizer for washing my hands when facilities are not available. I also avoid touching my eyes or mouth (etc.) when I'm out in public if I know my hands are not clean.
Many people who post here claim to never get sick from street food but I believe it's mainly because they have built up a resistance to the elements that may make you sick. I was very sick on and off during my first trip but haven't been sick since (trip 14 coming up). Generally speaking, street food can be safe. It's usually the utinsels that are not safe because most street vendors don't have access to clean water and therefore an effective way to thoroughly clean their dishes.
If you do get sick you should start with a mild remedy like Pepto Bismal. If that doesn't help you could move on to something more powerful like Imodium. For a severe case of food related sickness, Cipro works wonders. Cipro is available by prescription only and should only be used as a last resort. Eat lots of rice and drink lots of water.
The general change in diet and change in timezones is enough to make some people Ill. I know Chinese people who have come to the States and have become sick here.

[Adil]

The problem with being over sensitive i.e. using bottled water to brush your teeth, is that your body is incapable of delaing with any problems later on. Brushing with tap water allows your body to build up its resistance. There is nothing undrinkable about the urban water except the taste, however, most people prefer the bottle water or more common nowadays are water filters.
Salads are not that uncommon, Xinjian, Korean and most medium sized restaurants have salads. I have never heard of anybody suffering any side-effects from these, unless however, you have a very delicate stomach.