why chinese drink hot water

why chinese drink hot water

It seems that the Chinese are the only people in the world who love hot water

From the early 20th century, China began a public health campaign to encourage drinking hot water. Drinking hot water is believed to help kill bacteria. Like many early human settlements around the world, ancient Chinese villages were built near large rivers where water was easily accessible. But water collected from natural sources contains a large number of microorganisms that have the potential to make people sick. Ancient civilizations around the world used different methods to make drinking water. The Egyptians used distillation, and the Romans, Greeks, and Mayans used canals. The Chinese believe that boiling water is the easiest way to kill most harmful bacteria.

In the 1930s, the then government launched the "New Life Campaign", which included encouraging drinking hot water because it was believed to be cleaner. After 1949, the government's support for drinking hot water remained unchanged. Since 1952, the Chinese government has launched several public health campaigns to encourage people to drink hot water. This has influenced the habits of several generations.

Chinese also like to drink hot water because it keeps them warm.

However, there may be a unique reason why the habit of drinking hot water can last for a long time. The earliest known Chinese medicine book, the Huangdi Neijing, more than 2,000 years ago, argues that hot water is an effective health regulator. A core principle of traditional Chinese medicine is the balance of Yin and Yang, which roughly refers to the balance of hot and cold energy. According to traditional Chinese medicine, an imbalance between Yin and Yang can lead to a range of diseases.