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Old Aug 29, 2006, 11:24 am
  #16  
Northbrook60065
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Chicago
Programs: United 1K, SPG Platinum; Hilton Honors Diamond; Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 25
Originally Posted by Peter N-H
You can drink the tap water, but you will get sick unless you boil it thoroughly first. No one on a brief visit from overseas should even consider brushing his or her teeth with tap water unless spending three days deciding which end of the body to apply to the lavatory first appeals.

In Beijing people at a foreign company responsible for water treatment tell me that after they've finished with it, the water is indeed drinkable. But unfortunately it then has to run through pipes that add lots of contaminents back in. In the overwhelming majority of China it gets no where near potable standards to start with, and certain nothing that a delicate Western stomach can deal with.

You will rarely see Chinese drinking unboiled tap water. This is no time to be macho. This is the time to be sensible. Bottled water (although not itself 100% reliable) is available on every street corner.

Peter N-H

Hey Peter!

Thanks VERY MUCH for the warning about tap water...that's exactly the kind of advice that I need. ^ This will be my first time actually exploring a destination beyond the routine of airport to hotel to business meeting then directly back to airport...I generally don't even get the chance to drink tap water - but for my upcoming trip during which I plan to explore the city - well, drinking water would have come up and without your warning I'd have been stupid and gotten sick.

Thanks again! I can't believe the awesome quality of wisdom I gleen from these posts. ^ I'm hooked on Flyertalk!

Best regards,

Barry
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