You don’t drink the tap water in China.  Ever.  Though I have heard of people drinking it and not getting sick, I certainly wouldn’t take that risk.  It’s bottled water or boiled water for me and most everyone else.  In many, many places throughout China you can find water machines that dispense safe drinking water.  It’s really not difficult to find them and it’s usually not a problem (unless your water machine is broken for 3 weeks, like mine was).  Many people also use tea kettles, either an electric kettle like the one above, or the old-fashioned kind you have to heat on the stove.

What I would like to bring to your attention is the gunk at the bottom of my kettle.  Clearly the bottom is not shiny, relfective metal like it should be.  What you see is the deposits left behind after boiling water in this contraption for about one month.  As you can see, there is definitely something in the water, and that something is not good.  About once a month I have to scrub the inside of my kettle with steel wool to get rid of these deposits of …. whatever the heck it is.  I’m not sure if ignoring the problem would be bad for you, but I am provided a certain amount of peace of mind knowing that my kettle is (relatively) clean.

Related posts:

1. The Terrible Results of Pollution