No Ice, Please!

All of you world travelers out there know all too well that drinking a simple glass of water while abroad can be a risky proposition. How many stories do we have about Montezuma's Revenge, especially when returning from places south of the (U.S.) border like Mexico? Even the highest-class destinations post very explicit notices warning against drinking water out of the tap, and most of us by now know to order that gin and tonic straight up, no ice - in fact, Chris and I have grown content to order bottled beer and imported wine (in carefully wiped-down glassware) when we visit exotic locales (if, for no other reason, than to insure we actually enjoy the vacation, rather than coming away with an intimate knowledge of the bathroom wallpaper!)

Water. It's the planet's essential life source. But for us, in China, it's the source of daily discussion as to whether we have enough of it for the everyday essentials of life: drinking, washing, cooking, brewing, boiling, freezing, even brushing. Chris just laughs when he sees me surrounded by countless water bottles, sloshing around with the Zero Water pitcher, patiently filling up the hot water boiler and endlessly refilling the empties. When he asks me what I'm doing, I turn to him with an enthusiastic (and somewhat sarcastic) reply, "Water Management, of course!"

As in many industrializing countries around the world, visitors to China are advised to drink only purified water, i.e. bottled, boiled, filtered, or distributed in large coolers like this one. Of course, no different than anywhere else, we're forced to rely upon the integrity of the local distributor as to the quality of the water (and so I try to keep images of people collecting bottles, refilling them from the local tap and resealing them for resale out of my mind, because then we'd be washing our fruits and vegetables in Tsingdao beer and making coffee with red wine! Best not to over think some things!)

Although most travelers can be diligent to a fault about drinking bottled water, the one thing they're apt to forget about is the ice. Normally a harmless addition to any cold beverage, ice can be the achilles heel of an otherwise perfect Water Management system. And, unfortunately, it's all too easy to cut corners when making ice - I mean, can you really be certain they're pumping filtered water into the ice maker out back?

So, the next time you're traveling in our neck of the woods, be sure to follow a strict Water Management system, and, to be on the safe side, when the flight attendant asks what you'd like to drink, remember to follow your cold beverage order with the words, "No ice, please!"