Beijing Travel Forum

I've been reading about the water in Beijing and the info is inconsistent. Do we need to avoid the tap water at all costs? Can bottled water at stores be trusted? How expensive is the bottled water. How much more expensive will it be during the Olympics? If we order drinks at a bar, will their ice be OK? We will be staying near the South Railway station, if location makes a difference.

It is a matter of being travel smart whether you are in Beijing or anywhere. Don't drink tap water, only purchase brand name bottle water and if you order them at restaurants make sure they come unopened. Buy at large supermarkets instead of at street side where tourist normally ended up paying much more than locals (especially during large events or super hot days). For summer, we normally buy enough for a few days and stick them in the freezer and take them out for day use, they will be nice and ice cold! Wrap a towl around the bottle so you have a nice cold towl as well.
Enjoy!

By the way, beer cost just about the same as bottle water, so you know my choice!

Thanks! I don't think we'll have a freezer but it's a good tip.

Polartraveller gave you very good adice. We were in Beijing last October and we paid around 1 RMB per 500 ml bottle from the super market and paid 10 RMB per 4 bottles from our tour bus driver.

Always make sure they are unopened no matter where you get it. We used bottle water to brush our teeth as well. Make sure you drink bottled water only, no tap water, no water from restrauant etc... Order bottled water or Beer, Wine with you meal.

There are a lot of convinience stores and super markets here and there in Beijing and you can trust them selling the authemtic product otherwise they would run out of business as it's mostly locals that frequent these stores. And in a same sense, you can trust them not spiking up the price for the coming Olympic. I do advise you to avoid those kiosks locate around the major tourist attractions, the price would be far more higher, even in common days, I cann't say how much they would increase during the Olympics. Bottled waters are cheap in China, usually 1.5-2 Chinese Yuan. My advise is that you should stick with these name brands:
农夫山泉 NONGFU SPRING
娃哈哈 WAHAHA
益力 Danone
雀巢 Nestle
天与地 Pepsi
怡宝 Cestbon
乐百氏 ROBUST
Have fun in Beijing.

Sorry, I don't know this forum doesn't support displaying Chinese characters. Anyway, hope the name in English would do you some good.

thepatv:

to answer your other questsions:

-- tap water is okay for bathing and brushing teeth.
-- ice at your drinks at a bar will be fine

regarding prices of water, 1 RMB per 500ml bottle is about as cheap as it gets. But it can be annoying to go into a supermarket just to buy water. 2 RMB per bottle will be a common price in a lot of places, and that's fine.

only 4-5 RMB for local beer if youi buy from supern market.......most hotels will have small fridge so you can stick the water in the freezer (small may be but I usually manage to get tow in). Also, they will have a electric kettle to make hot water for tea so you can boil the tap water for brushing teeth etc (just to get the smell out)

You can buy safe water in supermarket.The price will stay same with normal time.RMB 2-3 per bottle(500 ml). If you are worried about the ice in the bar, you can have the iced drink without ice.

To echo the rest of the posts, our motto, whenever we are traveling is: "Better safe than sorry".
Why risk getting an upset stomach or, worse? Regardless of country, chances are, what your body is accustomed to is different than that of the locals.

Most tourist class hotels and certainly the higher star ones will provide you with a couple of free bottles of drinking water per room. Additional ones can be purchased quite cheaply outside the hotel.
Note: OUTSIDE the hotel.
The hotel counts on tourist dollars and will often times mark it up considerably. That also holds true for us here in the USA.

Use the bottled water to brush teeth with.
We were told the ice coming from machines which create a hole when dispensed was safe as it indicated it was coming from filtered source.
I can tell you we didn't have any problems with ice in hotels but, cannot prove/disprove the theory.

Don't buy bottled water at sights like the Great Wall. I've seen "fakes" there.

You people make me sick! I've been living in Beijing and drinking tap water for 2 years. It tastes better than tap water in NYC or London! If you brush your teeth with bottled water, you are an idiot! Stay home, wherever you are from. Beijing doesn't need you.

Beijing is now a more metropolitan city than most other cities in the world. It has every luxury you can think of, and more. It's 100 times safer than NYC or London, people are friendlier, and even the air is fresher now that we are approaching the Olympics.

First off VT is no place to be insulting, especially when we, as a community are trying to advice potential travelers (you will be reported for your abuse).
Insults, name calling and offensive remarks, to which there is no provocation is totally against terms of service.

What I find amusing however is where you get YOUR information.
A simple google search gave plenty of updated, firm advice to travelers to China, including this one directly from high ranking Beijing Olympic Officials:

An important message was delivered today by high ranking Beijing Olympic officials: don't drink the tap water in Beijing next summer unless you're within the Olympic village. In a nutshell, this was the city's attempt in order to "guarantee water safety" - don't drink it. The city has spent billions trying to clean up the city, and these gargantuan efforts still haven't been enough to provide potable drinking water for all. Attention bottled water companies: stake your positions now!


"The quality of the water provided by the water plants is safe enough," said Bi Xiaogang, vice director general of the Beijing Water Management Bureau. "The water is contaminated during the secondary supply process, in the transfer of water. Therefore it is not safe to drink from the tap," Bi said. "We are still working on upgrading the secondary facilities. But in the Olympic Village we will provide safe drinking water from the tap."

http://lioninoil.blogspot.com/2007/05/2008-beijing-olympics-bring-your-own.html

Please find another site for your anger and offensive remarks. Good members such as Ellyse, who have made it a point to take their time to advice and inform many a travelers to her home country do NOT deserve such treatment.

I don't think that poster was aiming those comments at me, but I agree that the language was overly offensive and aggressive.
China is currently my home country, but only because I've been lucky enough re visas...

Ellyse- Just out of curiosity, where is your home country? You know so much aout Shanghai- I thought you were born and raised there. Polar guy- What are you best beer recommendations for the supermarket brands?

Look on my profile page on Lonely Planet ThornTree. ;)

Stick to the known brands like Watsons or Nestle and major supermarkets like the Carrfore or teh local chain Jin Kur Lung. Like the others said, usually there are not much fake goods in the major supermarkts, just when you go to the smaller corner stores or street vedors you will have to be very careful.

sorry wrong recommendation, I was think of bottle water, for beer, many stay with the famous Tsingtao but I found the relatively new Kingway beer better (lighter than Tsingtao).

Enjoy

junzou68

i agree with homanded that you have no business to be name calling anybody. by the way he has a right to brush his teeth with bottled water, beer or even whiskey if he so chooses. it is not fair or polite to censure him on that.

i have travelled to several chinese destinations and found the hosts to be extremely helpful and friendly. they have always advised me not to consume water directly from the tap - after boiling, may be.

your attitude unfortunately, is totally undesirable.

mus

drinking tap water in Beijing, good for you, if you only know most of the old water pipe are made of lead and new ones were never sanitilized after they installed them enjoy the yap water, the day your hair starts falling remember the smart comments you made..... and if you ever have a chance to go up to the roof top have a peak at what else is swimming in those tanks up there.

hi polartraveller
sorry wrote wrong name in my earlier post.
regards
musapir

junzhou hasn't even logged in for like 2 months.

Considering that even milk in China isn't safe (melamine), it's a good idea to just not drink tap water. Bottled water is cheap and plentiful.

But you guys already knew that anyway. :0