Water and Food in China: Tips for Expats and Visitors

China is a country known for its rich cultural heritage and diverse culinary traditions. To have a great time in China, expats and visitors should prioritize their health by remembering water and food safety.

In this article by Pacific Prime, we will take you through the most important facts about water and food safety in China, giving you an all-in-one guide on how to stay safe while eating in the heartland of East Asia.

Water Safety

Whether you are enjoying the warm breezes in Shenzhen or hiking in the snowy mountains near Beijing, you will need to buy water from a convenience store or order water from a local restaurant. Here are some general rules of thumb to drink water safely in China.

Can I Drink Tap Water in China?

Drinking tap water in China is not recommended as the standard is not there yet when compared to countries in the West. Instead, it’s highly recommended to refrain from drinking water directly from the tap.

To ensure your safety and minimize the risk of diseases, it’s strongly advisable to install a water purifier or boil tap water before consumption. If you’re visiting China, the best option is to buy a bottle of water from the convenience store.

If you come across a water fountain in public, it’s recommended to avoid it as it may not provide the same level of assurance regarding water quality as boiled or bottled water. It’s advisable to be mindful of consuming beverages with ice, as the ice cubes may have been made from tap water.

Always bear in mind that maintaining proper hydration is crucial for your well-being. Therefore, it is imperative to have access to reliable sources of safe drinking water when you are in an environment where the quality of tap water is a concern.

Drinking Water in Restaurants

Chinese people love to drink hot water. At the very least, you will be served hot water if you simply order water without specifying that you’d like to drink iced water. To drink iced water (bing shui), your safest option is to order bottled water or make sure that the water being served to you is from a bottled source.

However, if you are looking for a more authentic dining experience, asking for hot water (kai shui) is in fact not only healthier, according to Chinese medicine, it’s also safer to drink as its high temperature kills any bacteria that may be contaminated in the water.

Food Safety

China’s food tradition is one of the oldest in the world, with some items on the menu being over a thousand years old. This means that if you are planning to travel or move to China, you will inevitably encounter some exotic dishes that, in some cases, may upset your stomach.

Street Food

China’s street food scene is second to none, with each city offering its own unique, mouth-watering street food flare. However, not all street foods are created equal. For instance, some are dirtier than others, while some will ‘cleanse your stomach’ (and not in a good way).

Here are some tips to keep you from getting the runs as your venture through China’s street food scene:

• Try to Stay Away from the Unfamiliar: As curious as you may be about how that pile of deep-fried pig intestine tastes, you may feel sick afterwards from eating something your body isn’t used to.

• Stay Away from the Exotic: There are many places in China that live off the reputation that they sell exotic food. These places will often overdo their ‘exoticness’ and offer food that even Chinese locals will stay away from. That’s right, I’m talking about the pile of runny condensed blood, fermented snakes, and fermented crocodile meat you find on the internet. Needless to say, stay away from them if you don’t want to get food poisoning in China.

• • Ask a Local: If you’re getting bored of eating Western food in China, blindly trying the nearest street vendor you can find isn’t a good idea. To eat local street food that is both delicious and safe, refer to your local friends or simply go to stalls that have queues. The food being cooked at popular stalls is often cleaner because everything is cooked fresh

• If It’s Quiet, Don’t Try It: It’s a good idea to eat whatever the locals are having, so if you see a food vendor/stall with a long line, it’s probably worthwhile.

• Eat What Is Cooked in Front of You: Some vendors have pre-cooked meals, which will warm for you. Just to be safe, it’s recommended that you order something that will be cooked then and there.

Past Food Safety Scandals in China that You Need to Know

Once every few years, a major food-safety scandal in China will erupt and make international headlines. Here are a few nationwide food scandals you should be aware of before going to China, starting from the aforementioned infamous 2008 Chinese milk scandal.

• The 2008 Chinese milk scandal: 500 times the maximum volume of harmful melamine chemicals were found in Chinese milk after 6 babies died from consuming the harmful chemical and 600,000 others were reported ill. The scandal kicked off a wave of public discontent and paranoia throughout Asia, many of which import milk from the Middle Kingdom.

• The 2010 ‘Gutter’ oil controversy: Gutter oil, or recycled oil from discarded waste, was found in various ‘hot pot’ restaurants throughout the country. In 2010, the Chinese Food and Drug Administration issued a nationwide emergency notice after 100 tons of gutter oil, being processed for resale throughout the country, was discovered by authorities. In the city of Chengdu, where ‘hot pot’ restaurants are particularly popular, up to 13 restaurants were found using gutter oil.

• The 2011 ‘metallic’ rice incident: Rice is a staple of Chinese cuisine and is often eaten in all three meals of the day. It has been reported that large areas of Chinese agricultural land, covering millions of acres, have been polluted by toxic metals, leading to a staggering contamination of over 12 million tons of Chinese grain. Consequently, the soil and food in China have been contaminated, posing risks to the environment and human health. The toxic metal can lead to cancer and other serious illnesses when consumed in large amounts.
• The 2013 ‘Rat Meat Sold as a Lamb’ Incident: A disturbing event involving rat meat being marketed as mutton and being sold in well-known Shanghai stores to visitors has been confirmed by police in China. A merchant went to great measures to hide the taste of rat, fox, and mink meat as lamb rolls by adding flavorings.
• The 2015 Zombie Meat: Meat that was frozen for up to 40 years was found on the tables of millions of people after being imported by meat-smuggling gangs in China. There have been discoveries of chicken wings from the 1980s and pig trotters from the 1970s. Over 100,000 tonnes of meat worth CNY ¥3 billion have been confiscated by authorities.

These are just a small fraction of China’s food scandals that have caught international headlines in the past decade or so. Each of these scandals led to a strict government crackdown to improve water and food safety standards in China. However, it is still far from obvious whether China’s days of recurring food scandals are already in the past.

The key to staying safe in China amid continuous food scandals is food variety. Many of these scandals involve chemical substances that build up over time after consumers continuously eat the same dishes for months or even years. To stay safe and minimize these risks, make sure you eat more types of meat and vegetables from trustworthy restaurants and food stalls in China.

Staying Safe with Pacific Prime China

Getting serious food poisoning and having to be admitted to the hospital overnight is more common in China than in most Western countries. You stand a real risk of getting food poisoning at least once during your stay in China. To get medical costs covered, many foreigners visiting China have chosen to get short-term health insurance for expats in China, while expats often choose to get health insurance for expats in China.

As an experienced China health insurance intermediary, we have endeavored to assist our clients through every step of their insurance journey. Our consultants are standing by to answer your insurance- and healthcare-related questions, present you with plan options from reputable insurers, and give you a free quote. To get started with Pacific Prime, contact us today.

Disclaimer: Pacific Prime China solely represents, operates and manages locally regulated insurance products and services in the territory of PR China. Any references to Pacific Prime Global Company or Group, the international services, insurance products or otherwise stated written or verbally, is for introduction purposes about our overseas network only as each entity is fully independent.