The tap water is fine to drink - it just tastes disgusting because of the chlorination.
There can be problems in more rural areas but nothing that boiling can't fix. Boiling also solves the taste problems of chlorination.
You are never going to eliminate tap water from your diet whether it is in the food or the ice. Also, you are never going to avoid being sick at least once - either through poor food hygiene and cross contamination or simply because local bacteria are alien to your system. (Foriegners get sick when they come to our countries too!).
Given that you will get sick anyway it is better to be sick in my opinion and then you won't get sick again as you will have immunised yourself. It's not like you get that sick anyway! Any long term traveller in China will tell you that they USED to get sick!!!
Not diving into the local quisine or enjoying life with the natives as they do is seriously going to impede your enjoyment and appreciation of this great country - so eliminate fear as you have nothing to fear but fear itself...
A) Tap water - cooking/ice/brushing teeth/thirsty and desperate
B) Kettle boiled tap water - coffee and tea etc...
C) Bottled water for drinking cold - tastes better/costs nothing
Posted on: Don't Drink the Water
February 21, 2011 at 10:40 AMThe tap water is fine to drink - it just tastes disgusting because of the chlorination.
There can be problems in more rural areas but nothing that boiling can't fix. Boiling also solves the taste problems of chlorination.
You are never going to eliminate tap water from your diet whether it is in the food or the ice. Also, you are never going to avoid being sick at least once - either through poor food hygiene and cross contamination or simply because local bacteria are alien to your system. (Foriegners get sick when they come to our countries too!).
Given that you will get sick anyway it is better to be sick in my opinion and then you won't get sick again as you will have immunised yourself. It's not like you get that sick anyway! Any long term traveller in China will tell you that they USED to get sick!!!
Not diving into the local quisine or enjoying life with the natives as they do is seriously going to impede your enjoyment and appreciation of this great country - so eliminate fear as you have nothing to fear but fear itself...
A) Tap water - cooking/ice/brushing teeth/thirsty and desperate
B) Kettle boiled tap water - coffee and tea etc...
C) Bottled water for drinking cold - tastes better/costs nothing
A+B+C=Happy life!