What's Allowed/Not Allowed in China?

[warpedbored]

Just because your mm might be able to dring the tap water doesn't mean you can. She very well may have developed antibodies you don't have.

[frank1538]

A friend of mine made a suggestion about the tap water. He said if you rinse your mouth with tap water after brushing your teeth, the small amounts of water that enter your system will allow your internal bacteria to adjust. He thought you could then drink the water after about a week or so.

 

It never bothered me to rinse with tap water, but then again, I never craved or drank a tall glass of tap water either. Gut-lock, aka Immodium AD, was never more than a pocket away from my mouth - just in case.

 

I wonder, though, if water used for tea is really boiled. I drank a lot of tea, and Jingwen rinsed everything at the restuarants with tea.

[Mick]

A friend of mine made a suggestion about the tap water.  He said if you rinse your mouth with tap water after brushing your teeth, the small amounts of water that enter your system will allow your internal bacteria to adjust.  He thought you could then drink the water after about a week or so.

 

It never bothered me to rinse with tap water, but then again, I never craved or drank a tall glass of tap water either.  Gut-lock, aka Immodium AD, was never more than a pocket away from my mouth - just in case.

 

I wonder, though, if water used for tea is really boiled.  I drank a lot of tea, and Jingwen rinsed everything at the restuarants with tea.

Small amounts of water, like for brushing your teeth, is ok. But I don't think it will prepare you to drink the tap water. Few Chinese drink the tap water unless it has been boiled. I wouldn't try it if I were you.

[tonado]

Mark,

 

Since your trip will be in the winter time, I would suggest that you bring a lot of warm clothes to China. A lot of places in China don't have enough heating.

[se_lang]

Mark,

 

Since your trip will be in the winter time, I would suggest that you bring a lot of warm clothes to China.  A lot of places in China don't have enough heating.

I would suggest you sleep with the window open an your woman close.

[se_lang]

Small amounts of water, like for brushing your teeth, is ok. But I don't think it will prepare you to drink the tap water. Few Chinese drink the tap water unless it has been boiled. I wouldn't try it if I were you.

I asked my MM one morning as I was drinking water from tap out of bathroom in hotel if it was safe she said no, But I was drinking it to wash down my ammodiumAD so I did not worry

[chinadave2001]

Do not drink the water. Why take a chance on being sick for a few days if you don't have to? And yes, brings lots of Immodium AD....gastro-intestinitis is fairly common for travelers to China...it can't be avoided....they simply have different bacteria than we do...and some restaurant practices are rather um,...shall we say...suspect?!

Some folks are affected, others are not...

"Chinadave"

[se_lang]

I know I had no loose bowels when I was there but I also was not feeling 100% in fact my last day I was down right feeling like a loose bowel I had to cancel dinner at her parents which made me feel bad but I still loved my trip

[warpedbored]

Hmmm I had a headache once but thats all. I drank coca cola instead of water though. the only time tapwater touched my mouth was when I was brushing my teeth and was quickly followed with antiseptic mouthwash

[MoonCarolCafe]

In China I won't use tap water, even when cleaning my teeth. The only thing I use tap water for is to wash my birthday suit, and even then I am careful to keep my eyes and mouth shut. I have yet to experience any problems with intestinal distress!

[owenkrout]

Just a note with all the talk of Immodium D. Immodium actually works not by treating the disease, but by addressing the symptom. It actually paralyzes, or partially paralyzes, the gut. Hence the common side effect of constipation afterwards. It is not a good idea to use it too often.

 

Very effective Western style medicine is available over the counter in China. Trust your loved one to select what you need.

 

I am a living testimony to the efficacy of Chinese Traditional Medicine, which is actually herbal treatment. Western medicine doesn't hold a candle to the way that Chinese Traditional Medicine has worked so well on my arthritis.

[Bryan_Qunying]

owen, I can vouch for that about Chinese medicine. Last December I cought a cold and was coughing alot. My wife took me to a pharmacy and the meds she gave me kicked that cold out of me fast.

 

As for the water, Every time I go for a visit, I always make a stop at the local market and buy a case of 1 ltr bottles of water. It's cheap and worth not getting sick over a bug or two.

 

Bryan

[Bob & Guiping]

On the laptop issue. If you run windows 2000 or XP the regional language settings allow you to enter in pinyin. You just type the word select the correct Chinese character and hit the space bar. I have it working on both of my systems. Also most laptops have a universal voltage charger/adaptor, just check to make sure. Bob

[MarkLuvsShuPing]

Gorsh! I go away for a few days and look what happens. I left this discussion at the top of page 3.

 

Mark,

 

Since your trip will be in the winter time, I would suggest that you bring a lot of warm clothes to China.  A lot of places in China don't have enough heating.

 

I hear you about the cold. I live in Denver and the other night it was close to 0 degrees and snowy. I kept reminding myself that, where I'm going, 0 is the average temperature in Dec. Just bought a new pair of insulated boots and long johns. I'll be getting a ski mask soon and ShuPing says she will present me with a scarf when I arrive in Beijing. And yes, the woman will be very close.

 

Well, I have heard the warning about the water and I'm not one to tempt fate (at least not when it comes to diarreah). Like I said, this'll be my honeymoon and I've got better things to do than sit on a toilet. I'll be buying a case of bottled water and hauling it around with me, ala Bryan.

 

I'm going to assume that the restaurant food is generally safe to eat, though I know there's probably a good chance that something will have a negative effect on me. My concern would be more about the home cooking I'll be getting when I stay with the in-laws. No clue about northern Chinese sanitary customs and conditions.

 

As for the laptop, I probably will buy an older model, just enough to do the web cam and e-mail. Most likely I'll buy it there and I won't have to worry about software issues. Though it would be nice (and it sounds like the case) if it will be just as useful to her when she comes here as it is there.

 

I trust the traditional Chinese medicine, in fact, I'm hoping to encourage ShuPing to study it more and bring it with her. She already has a basic course and ambitions for more. I told her it's a good business to get into here. I feel pretty confident that I'll be in good hands with her.

[Martytb]

Hello all, I just signed on as a member. I felt qualified as I just returned from China on Nov. 8.

I am now happily married to a Chinese doctor and found the water discussion very interesting. WeiPing boiled all the water and the milk that I drank. She also made a big deal about touching anything.

 

My big etiquite booboo was shaking hands. As soon as the wife introduced me to somebody I reached out to shake hands. Wrong! Quite a few people hesitated, and I didn't understand why untill I asked WeiPing's brother. He speaks English better than she does.

I'm surprised nobody has warned you about the spitting. It took me totally by surprise.

One more thing, don't sit in the front seat of the taxi. You'll understand why the first time you get in a car and enter the traffic flow.