Today’s post asks the perennial question: Why do Chinese people drink hot water?
在中国，大家都喝热水，不喝冷水。
你感冒了？喝热水。
你肚子疼？喝热水。
你很累？喝热水。
你不高兴？喝热水。
外国人不明白。他们问：”为什么？水就是水，为什么要热的？”
中国人觉得，冷水对身体不好，热水对身体好。
为什么呢？
第一，很久以前，中国人就知道：水烧热了，才干净。冷水里有不好的东西，喝了会生病。热水没有问题。
第二，中国人觉得，身体喜欢热，不喜欢冷。你喝冷水，肚子就冷了，人不舒服。你喝热水，肚子是热的，人就舒服。
我以前也不明白。但是我在中国住了几年，现在，我也喝热水了。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 热水 | rè shuǐ | hot water |
| 感冒 | gǎn mào | to catch a cold |
| 肚子疼 | dù zi téng | stomachache |
| 明白 | míng bai | to understand |
| 身体 | shēn tǐ | body |
| 干净 | gān jìng | clean |
| 生病 | shēng bìng | to get sick |
| 舒服 | shū fu | comfortable |
| 以前 | yǐ qián | before; in the past |
| 外国人 | wài guó rén | foreigner |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 中国 | Zhōng guó | China |
| 大家 | dà jiā | everyone; influential family; great expert |
| 都 | Dū | surname Du |
| 喝 | hē | to drink; variant of 嗬[he1] |
| 不 | bù | no; not so; (bound form) not; un- |
| 冷水 | lěng shuǐ | cold water; unboiled water; fig. not yet ready (of plans) |
| 你 | nǐ | you (informal, as opposed to courteous 您[nin2]); you (Note: In Taiwan, 妳 is used to address females, but in mainland China, it is not commonly used. Instead, 你 is used to address both males and females.) |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 累 | lěi | to accumulate; to involve or implicate (Taiwan pr. [lei4]); continuous; repeated; rope; to bind together; to twist around |
| 高兴 | gāo xìng | happy; glad; willing (to do sth); in a cheerful mood |
| 不明 | bù míng | not clear; unknown; to fail to understand |
| 白 | Bái | surname Bai; Bai ethnic group |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 问 | wèn | to ask; to inquire |
| 为 | wéi | as (in the capacity of); to take sth as; to act as; to serve as; to behave as; to become; to be; to do; by (in the passive voice); variant of 為|为[wei2] |
| 什 | shén | what |
| 么 | má | exclamatory final particle; variant of 麼|么[me5] |
| 水 | Shuǐ | surname Shui; Shui ethnic group |
| 就是 | jìu shì | exactly; precisely; only; simply; just; (used correlatively with 也[ye3]) even; even if |
| 要 | yāo | (bound form) to demand; to coerce |
| 热 | rè | to warm up; to heat up; hot (of weather); heat; fervent |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 中国人 | Zhōng guó rén | Chinese person |
| 觉得 | jué de | to think that ...; to feel that ...; to feel (uncomfortable etc) |
| 对 | duì | right; correct; towards; at; for; concerning; regarding; to treat (sb a certain way); to face; (bound form) opposite; facing; matching; to match together; to adjust; to fit; to sui… |
| 不好 | bù hǎo | no good |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (… |
| 呢 | ne | (sentence-final particle) used in questions to link back to prior discourse or context ("what about...?", "and...?"); (sentence-final particle) indicating that a state or situation… |
| 第 | dì | (prefix indicating ordinal number, as in 第六[di4 liu4] "sixth"); (literary) grades in which successful candidates in the imperial examinations were placed; (old) residence of a high… |
| 一 | yī | one; single; a (article); as soon as; entire; whole; all; throughout; "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1); also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out … |
| 久 | jǐu | (of a period of time) long |
| 就 | jìu | (after a suppositional clause) in that case; then; (after a clause of action) as soon as; immediately after; (same as 就是[jiu4 shi4]) merely; nothing else but; simply; just; precise… |
| 知道 | zhī dào | to know; to become aware of; also pr. [zhi1dao5] |
| 烧 | shāo | to burn; to set on fire; to heat (over a fire); to boil (water, tea etc); to braise; to cook; to prepare food; to run a fever; fever; (coll.) to become full of oneself; to get carr… |
| 才干 | cái gàn | ability; competence |
| 净 | jìng | variant of 淨|净[jing4]; clean; completely; only; net (income, exports etc); (Chinese opera) painted face male role |
| 里 | lǐ | variant of 裡|里[li3]; lining; interior; inside; internal; also written 裏|里[li3]; surname Li |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 东 | Dōng | surname Dong |
| 西 | Xī | the West; abbr. for Spain 西班牙[Xi1 ban1 ya2]; Spanish |
| 会 | huì | can; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together; meeting; gathering; (suffix) union; group; association; (bound form) a moment (Tai… |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 问题 | wèn tí | question; problem; issue; topic; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 二 | èr | two; 2; (Beijing dialect) stupid |
| 喜欢 | xǐ huan | to like; to be fond of |
| 冷 | Lěng | surname Leng |
| 肚 | dǔ | tripe |
| 子 | zǐ | son; child; seed; egg; small thing; 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat; viscount, fourth of five orders o… |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 不舒服 | bù shū fu | unwell; feeling ill; to feel uncomfortable; uneasy |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 我 | wǒ | I; me; my |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 住 | zhù | to live; to reside; to stay; to stop; to cease; (result complement indicating firmness or a stable achieved state) |
| 几年 | jǐ nián | a few years; several years; how many years? |
| 现 | xiàn | to appear; present; now; existing; current |
In China, everyone drinks hot water, not cold water.
You’ve caught a cold? Drink hot water.
Your stomach hurts? Drink hot water.
You’re tired? Drink hot water.
You’re unhappy? Drink hot water.
Foreigners don’t understand. They ask: ‘Why? Water is just water, why does it have to be hot?’
Chinese people think that cold water is bad for the body, and hot water is good for the body.
Why is that?
First, a long time ago, Chinese people already knew: water is only clean after it’s been boiled. Cold water has bad things in it, and drinking it can make you sick. Hot water has no problems.
Second, Chinese people think the body likes warmth and doesn’t like cold. If you drink cold water, your stomach gets cold and you feel uncomfortable. If you drink hot water, your stomach is warm and you feel comfortable.
I didn’t understand before either. But I’ve lived in China for a few years, and now I drink hot water too.