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Q: Have you ever drunk water straight from the tap in China?
Has this ever happened to you?
After a night out on the town and a little too much to drink, you go home, go to bed, wake up in the middle of the night with an absolutely parched mouth and gullet, crawl out of bed to drink some water, and discover that you are totally out of bottled water or any other beverage that might quench your burning thirst. No canned soda, no juice, no nothing.
And you are really really thirsty.
Have you ever drunk water straight out of the kitchen or bathroom tap in China? And if so, any health consequences the next day? (Doing a little forward thinking here. Just in case...)
10 years 15 weeks ago in Health & Safety - China
few sips here and there when couldn't avoid. but fully drinking to satisfy thirst? nope, not yet. hope never. I use bottled for cooking and even for diluting mouthwash, but I do brush my teeth with tap water. I'm not that paranoid!
ScotsAlan:
Same here. I brush my teeth with tap water. I also rinse glasses with tap water before I drink from them. But I normally fill the washed glasses with stuff at 40% by volume so that's not an issue
Red. Just get off your ass and go down and get some bottles of water/cola/beer, whatever you will need. It's not worth it man.
Red_Fox:
Scando, I'm a lazy cuss. What can I say? (Shit. I'm almost out of gin...) 
Scandinavian:
Out of gin, sounds like a rookie mistake. Then you need to go to the store anyway.
By the way. Get a water dispenser, buy the 18 liter jugs. Find an outfit that delivers. We pay 15rmb for a jug delivered to our doorstep.
Scandinavian:
Oh. If your are desperate. Boil it, that way the laduzi monster will not sneak up on you. You might still die if you keep drinking it, can boil away chemical compounds. Gin sounds a lot safer.
Red_Fox:
Yeah, that's what I figure. Gin is an antiseptic and antibacterial. Cleans the system out better than Mr. Muscle on my clogged sink drains. But the next day... ouch.
diverdude1:
TnT ; Tanq n' Tonic w/ a fresh-cut Lime.... best cocktail ever~
I just had to chime in boys...
bryan.mcminn:
I did two or three times in Fuzhou.. I was in the exact circumstance as you were. I didnt have any problems the next day but it did worry me a bit.
few sips here and there when couldn't avoid. but fully drinking to satisfy thirst? nope, not yet. hope never. I use bottled for cooking and even for diluting mouthwash, but I do brush my teeth with tap water. I'm not that paranoid!
ScotsAlan:
Same here. I brush my teeth with tap water. I also rinse glasses with tap water before I drink from them. But I normally fill the washed glasses with stuff at 40% by volume so that's not an issue
Boiled tap water is ok. I have a kettle boiled all the time. So far, so side effects. This is Guangzhou. Don't know about other provinces.
you can buy a hot water cooker, basically a 5 litre pot plugged in all the time and comes with a dispenser, press the button on top. i drink boiled tap water, put in a pitcher and cool in the fridge, clean the cooker once a month with white vinegar and water sitting overnight, good as new, cooker runs about 200 to 400 rmb for a 3 to 5 litre one.
it comes on when the water gets to cool or you add water, also never overfill it when your drunk or it will burn up the heating element. ive had a midea cooker for 3 years, use one at my house and the school apartment.
water delivery is pretty cheap and the school provides it free but its a hassle to have to be there for the delivery every time. the yellow wall of gunk you see on the cooker wall of stainless steel will make you ponder what else you eat if you wash and eat food with tap water, ouch!!
I did one worse!
In 2006 I was in a train, and it was EXTREMELY hot. They had run out of bottled water, so I went to the bathroom. Next to the bathroom, they had a faucet room. Parched as I was, I drank two cupped hands-worth of water. It was only then that I saw the sign: "Water for wash only! No drinking!"
To be honest, I was so parched at that moment that I truly did not care!
I seem to have survived. AND without the runs!
I did once and my skin turned white, not sure what colour it was before, maybe it always was white, small amount of brain damage maybe?
oh man my friend was in this exact situation a few years back. he woke up in the early morning dying of thirst bc of the hangover... rushed to his sink, and swallowed liters of the shit. he couldnt go to work for a fews days and was taken to the hospital by the school. the kicker... we all know chinese hospitals will milk you for money in most situations, so this guy was convinced he needed to have an IV drop put up is ass to help wash away anything in his system... we still call him IV butt...
I did in Philippines, but hell no, I would never do that again, I have more respect for pregnant women now.
Yeah, bathroom and toilet water.
D-Don't ask.
No health consequences, but I did end up having marathon sex sessions.
Paulberger:
you really need to write a book about your life in china... you can call it.. "a big green monster's adventures in a f*cked up place" if you choose to use my title, i get a commision.
Hulk:
I just might, some day. They're so outlandish and so far gone that nobody would believe me anyway, lmao.
Paulberger:
then you can see your story to hollywood and jackie chan can play you in the movie...
I did, and still here. some food outside is more dangerous than the water at my place. Just I do not do it in summer. than water is smelly and blooming 
I'll drink water from the water fountain at the gym. It's got two outlets....one for boiling hot water, and another that's either lukewarm, or sometimes room temp. I always get the latter, and hope that it's been previously boiled. Hasn't killed me or caused any problems I know of....yet! Also, it seems there's a lot of regional variance in just how terrible or unsafe the unboiled water is......
Yes I have done it before. Besides all my hair falling out and bright pink stool there were no other adverse effects.
What, are you crazy! It is dangerous enough just to drink cold water.
No, never! I heard all taps in China are dirty.
Where is Fox anyway?
My first ever time in China, I was young and rather naive. I arrived at Pudong airport in the middle of the night, and was taken straight to my pre-arranged apartment. Dehydrated from a long flight the very first thing I did was go to the kitchen and pour myself a glass of water. Took a big swig and promptly spat it all out again. I am always prepared, often anally so, but it never even occurred to me that you can't drink the water here.
I then spent a torturous night desperately thirsty, missing home, and bursting for a dump (no toilet roll). I could have easily just popped downstairs to family mart, and 2 of my 3 problems would have been solved, but fresh of the plane from rural England it never even crossed my mind that anything would be open after 10pm. Needless to say I've learnt an awful lot since then.
Now where is that damn Red Fox? Things just haven't been the same around here.
If anyone runs into a cool dude with a superb looking afro and a twinkle in his eye, ask him what's his story.
And no, I haven't. Amazing really when you consider how much grog I've thrown down my gullet since I got here in early 2010.
