Recently my boyfriend returned back to NYC from a trip to China, where as we all know, the culture, religion and food are drastically different from our Americanized way of life. During our brief phone calls via Skype (yes, Skype works there), he went on to tell me all of the differences he had discovered and experienced while visiting China. Being a self-proclaimed world traveler, he has been all over the world and has had the opportunity to prevail and live within other cultures of people. I have heard his heart-felt stories of the paths he has walked during his travels to small towns in Macedonia, Israel and Morocco. Now it was China’s turn.
I was surprised and taken aback when he told me (without disgust, I must say), that in China they do not refrigerate their meat. I automatically resented the country upon hearing this news (yes, I know - shallow). However, he kept talking. He was traveling around parts of China, beginning in Beijing, and was changing hotels every two to three days during his three-week stay. With excitement always in his voice, his hotel accommodations were more than he could hope for. He was blown away by the cleanliness of the hotel grounds and room, and loved the marble and granite shower. Food is always a mystery when visiting other countries, China being no different; he ate with open-mindedness but was surprised when he began to feel mildly comfortable with the 5-star dining experience (although he did incur food poisoning within hours of devouring a Subway sandwich).
I believe it was during dinner one of his first nights where he caught glimpse of another China-culture extra – hot water, and even more so, the lack of cold water. He noticed the locals and some of the tourists with cups of steaming hot water, during all times of day; no ice cubes in sight. During this particular conversation, I was a little embarrassed I had not heard of this hot water trend before. I wondered why on earth would they drink hot water in the afternoon when it was so hot outside? Don’t they feel the heat? He went on to explain to me what knowledge he had gained from the others: it purifies your body and helps with digestion. Just like that, I wanted to follow in the Chinese culture (at least, in the hot water sense).
After researching on this topic, it somewhat revealed to me that I am not as experienced as I thought. This hot water practice has been in use since the beginning of time, and China was not the only place where people indulged in this practice. One can learn a lot about life through experiences and this is just one more reason to always have your ears and eyes open. Having an open mind is much like having an open heart: you let everything in, but always take it with fair and realistic measure.
The benefits of Drinking Hot Water:
- Purification – drinking hot water creates perspiration which is key to releasing toxins from your body. The average body heat is 98.6 degrees, imagine how a cup of boiling hot water can help raise your body temperature momentarily. We have six quarts of blood in our body, and it travels nearly 12,000 miles each day, so try to keep it clean and purified when it’s working hard for you. Drinking hot water also is known to remove deposits in the nervous system; those deposits are believed to have a negative effect on thoughts and emotional responses.
- Great for Diet – Some people believe that drinking hot water helps with weight loss. Hey, can’t hurt to try.
- Congested? Clear it Up! – If you are feeling ill and congested, or just need to open those nasal passages, then try water instead of coffee or hot tea, which only dehydrates you due to the caffeine. If you can’t stand the taste of plain water, add a slice of lemon!
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