What's the deal with Chinese people and drinking hot water?

Conversations like the one in the cartoon above are commonplace in the Chinese household, and chances are you’re already used to hearing the similar suggestions from the mouths of your Chinese friends any time you show the slightest sign of physical discomfort. The phrase “drink some hot water” is so ubiquitous in China you would think that Chinese hot water is somehow different from normal hot water. like it’s special; like it has the power to cure to all sickness.. so what’s up with this? What’s got these Easterners so hot for hot water, and what’s the reasoning behind it?

1

In Chinese Medicine, Health and Well-being

Looking through the lens of Chinese medicine, hot water is a means of re-equilibrating internal heat, promoting circulation and nourishing the stomach. Besides the beneficial medical effects drinking it, Chinese medicine also makes note of the positive effects of hot water footbaths and showers, which Qing Dynasty Emperor Qianlong’s personal health care routine just so happens to also mention: “Take three hundred steps upon waking, and of an evening, a tub of water.” (meaning “a tub of hot water in which to soak your feet.”) China’s oldest medical text - called the ‘Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor’, also clearly states: “Refrain from cold food, drink, and cold dress.” The cold was and still is seen as a source of harm to the human body.

2

In History and Culture

It’s known that between 18,000 and 20,000 years ago, pottery was already being used in China’s Yellow River basin region. For perspective, that’s approximately 10,000 years before the invention of agriculture! What’s more is that when tested, this pottery showed signs of having been cooked in. This tells us that before learning to grow and harvest farmland crops, the people of China were already cooking and heating water.

When agriculture did eventually come to China it brought a massive increase in the number of food resources that could be used in cooking. This naturally meant more chance to practice and refine ceramic pot and dish cooking, keeping the cultural practice alive and thriving.

On the other hand, there’s evidence to suggest that the other civilizations of the world did not begin to make pottery until after agriculture, meaning that by the time they had started using these pottery containers their dietary habits had already formed. In other words: we can assume that they drank unboiled water and ate foods that were either uncooked or simply roasted over an open fire. Their needs already met, there was little reason to develop the practice of cooking in pottery.

It was the early ancestors of the Chinese that had the ingenious idea of re-purposing container pots into cooking pots, and from there it wasn’t long before they became the first society to be boiling their water. Just like that the first hot drinking water was born, and it’s been the done thing ever since.

Fast forward to more recent times. After going through the dark days of Europe’s cholera epidemic the West got serious about the whole drinking water safety situation. Before long the strictest water quality standards the world had ever seen were imposed and enforced to ensure the health of the people, and, slowly but surely, every household would be enjoying drinkable water straight from the tap. This of course eliminated the need to boil water before consumption, however, in many Chinese households it’s still the case that tap water isn’t directly drinkable, even today. Everyone’s used to chilling once-boiled water when they want a cold drink, or just letting it cool off for a while before drinking it warm.

In the early days of the Chinese republic, the government worked hard to spread the word of the benefits of boiled water in preventing sickness and set up boiler factories across the nation to produce and distribute hot water machines to supply all schools, factories and train stations with drinking water. Nowadays, water coolers mean cold drinking water is available practically anywhere, but sure enough, the persistent hand-me-down tradition of drinking hot water hasn’t budged an inch.

3

Tea Culture

Tea is the product of the pursuit of flavor and effect. In old-era China, drinking leaf tea was a popular practice among the nobles and officialdom, a pleasure reserved primarily by the higher tiers of society. The commoner was much less picky, however. Flowers, leaves from whatever plant.. even grain husks were taken, steeped in hot water and drank. In those days, it was all “tea”.

A fun fact: now there are places in china where when they say “drink hot water”, they actually mean “to drink tea”, and when they say “drink tea”, what they’re really saying is “drink leaf tea” (specifically).

It’s all connected - from your friend’s ten-thousandth “drink some hot water”, all the way back to river folk with cooking pots 20,000 years ago. Who would’ve thought...

So, while we haven’t given any scientific backing for the medicinal side of things, it’s plain to see this old-fashioned phrase is more than meets the ear. Thanks, Chinese culture!