In an overheated meeting room and with no access to the thermostat, I was pouring my colleagues glasses of cool water. I held the jug above my teammate’s glass but she politely declined. “I’ve brought my own,” she said, whipping out a Thermos.
Oh yes, the Chinese habit of drinking warm water – even in extreme heat. I’d forgotten about that, which is surprising given my family does it all the time.
My Chinese Malaysian mother does not like cold water. “Ooh, no,” she says, “I’d never drink cold water from the fridge, or even from the tap. It’s especially bad if you have sensitive teeth.”
My Guangzhou-born dad, who experiences dentin hypersensitivity, finds warm water “comforting and soothing”.
Then there’s my aunt: she has lived in Australia since she was a child but still prefers hot water. She puts it down to her upbringing – her parents often brought their own Thermos of hot water when they were out and about; now she does the same. “I also boil water and have a bottle of room temperature water to drink.”
She knows it’s not necessary. “For goodness sake, I live in Melbourne and I know there’s no need to do this when I can drink high-quality water from the tap!”
Jan, a woman with Chinese heritage who I met by chance in the park, says: “My mum always said it was good for digestion.” Apparently, Jan’s mother-in-law also spruiks its many health benefits. “She refuses to give my two children cold water – it’s got to be at least warm!”
Warmed water’s remedy-status is shared by Ayurvedic practitioners (Ayurveda has historical roots in the Indian subcontinent). This means warm or hot water has a big fan club: the two most populous countries in the world, plus Jan’s mother-in-law.
Bloated? Drink hot water. Poor circulation? Drink hot water. Got a cold? Feeling cold? You know what to do. It’s your Chinese grandma’s fix-all. If chicken soup is Jewish penicillin, heated water has for many centuries been the Chinese Amoxil, lavender oil and Metamucil.
“People drink hot water for cultural, historical and medicinal reasons,” says Isabel Zhang, who works in cross-cultural research.
Warm water fits into the concept of yin and yang, the foundational principle of Chinese medicine. For a person to be healthy, these forces must be in balance, Zhang says. “Cold water is considered to be yin, or cold. This is thought to disrupt internal organ and qi [vital energy] balance.”
Dr Scott Ling, a traditional Chinese medicine doctor based in Melbourne, drinks hot water in all seasons as he believes it can improve circulation and digestion. “I’ve been doing it for the last 20 years,” he says.
Hot water is also the drink of choice for Zhang. “Although my dad is not a doctor, he practises Chinese medicine and food therapy like a religion. Since I was a child, he always advised me against drinking cold water. This tradition has stuck with me, even when I’ve lived in four different countries.”
Zhang’s work has brought her into contact with many Chinese communities, including tourists and international students. Both groups have mentioned experiencing difficulties in Australia, due to the lack of public access to hot water.
But in Chinese restaurants at least, it’s not uncommon to see two teapots or Thermoses on the table – one with Chinese tea and one with hot water.
Perhaps as more venues catch on, one day we’ll hear: “Madam, would you like still, sparkling or hot?”
This article was amended on 30 August 2023 to correct Dr Scott Ling’s last name.
