Everything is making me sick!

[self-taught-mba]

Were those purple spots bluish purple as in like mold?

I don't recall spotting purple spotted once before?

[muyongshi]

Actually the best breakfast I ever had was plain mantous with a handful of peanuts.

Switch the peanuts for 泡菜 and man I was addicted!!

[flameproof]

Now if somebody could tell me what a pink light in a "barber shop" means then I'll be totally set.

It means "No Barber Service Here". But there was something about a secret handshake......

[cdn_in_bj]

P.S. the Chinese often have similar issues eating Cheesy, and heavy foods when they come to the west.

Actually the cheese/dairy thing is not related to stomach bacteria, but rather because of a lack of an enzyme (lactase) required to break down lactose, the primary sugar in milk. Most ethnic Chinese are lactose-intolerant to various degrees (and this applies to those who grew up overseas too), with symptoms ranging from a bit of stomach gas to more serious effects such as cramps and diarrhea. The strange exception is yoghurt, and studies have indicated that the bacterial cultures in yoghurt seem to aid in the digestion of lactose.

In the west you can find lactose-free milk for those that are lactose intolerant, however I have yet to find this here. The other solution is to take lactase pills (which contain the needed enzyme), but I have not seen these for sale here either, though I have not specifically looked for them.

I came across an interesting article discussing the apparent benefits of consuming yoghurt, one of which is prevention of e.coli infection! I've always known that "good bacteria can fight bad bacteria", but this is the first time I have seen this discussed in depth:

http://www.usprobiotics.org/docs/Scientific%20Letter%20n%C2%B0%206.pdf

So perhaps we should "do as the Chinese do", and consume lots of yoghurt while in China!

Regarding diarrhea, I'm afraid that this is normal here, even for the locals. I remember when I first got here I would have stomach "difficulties" (sometimes diarrhea, but not always) that would last for several days or even weeks. After 2 years of being here, these seemed to have tapered off, although I still get the occasional "outbreak".

You just have to be careful about what you eat here. I know some on this board will disagree, but I personally would avoid eating from outdoor food vendors, especially those selling food that has been directly exposed to the air/dust. Also go easy on the hot and spicy foods (especially dishes containing the numbing Sichuan pepper). You even have to be careful when buying groceries at a supermarket as they are not very strict here regarding produce handling, and I think it was Heifeng who cautioned against buying frozen foods. If you're living in dusty Beijing, you may want to consider wearing a mask when you're out as I suspect there may be some nasty germs in the dust. I don't think there's any problem with drinking the tap water in Beijing, especially if you boil it; I used to drink it all the time before I started buying spring/mineral water. Actually I think the tap water here is pretty good, at least it is miles ahead of HK's tap water in terms of taste.

And again, eat lots of yoghurt. For the ladies, there may be other side-benefits too but then we'd be getting off-topic.

[heifeng]

So perhaps we should "do as the Chinese do", and consume lots of yoghurt while in China!

I try to eat yogurt out here quite often (the brands out here are actually not bad...mmmm creamy full fat), but make sure you check the date on it and make sure it was properly refrigerated.

You just have to be careful about what you eat here. I know some on this board will disagree, but I personally would avoid eating from outdoor food vendors, especially those selling food that has been directly exposed to the air/dust.

I think vendor food is an exciting part of China, so we just need to learn to select wisely. this word of wisdom was going to be a part of a great thread I've had in the back of my head for a while: "Things I've learned while living in BJ" but never posted...

1) Don't eat tanghulu that is uncovered.

reason, on windy days you can only imagine what nasty dustiness is stuck on it. Once I was riding my bike behind a tanghulu vendor riding his bike during a nasty windy/sandstormy day and made a mental note never to buy uncovered tanghulu again. Can you imagine how much street dust must have been stuck onto that sugar coating.

2) Don't eat malatang next to puddles on the road~ same idea actually...malatang just seems unsanitary anyway, but factor in some puddles and cars running through them...ughh scary.

Were those purple spots bluish purple as in like mold?

I don't recall spotting purple spotted once before?

No, it was technically a huazhuanr (sometimes after they weigh it the label says mantou...sometimes huazhuanr and its white and purple speckled.) Its really big, about the size of a softball and really good, and thats apparently why I wolfed it down!

Switch the peanuts for 泡菜 and man I was addicted!!

mmmm wumei has really really good 辣萝卜块。。。ok that's a bit off topic..moving right along

Actually the best breakfast I ever had was plain mantous with a handful of peanuts.

uhh ohh..peanuts...another food that needs to be chewed carefully. That and mantou is just asking for trouble:mrgreen:

Regarding diarrhea, I'm afraid that this is normal here, even for the locals. I remember when I first got here I would have stomach "difficulties" (sometimes diarrhea, but not always) that would last for several days or even weeks. After 2 years of being here, these seemed to have tapered off, although I still get the occasional "outbreak".

haha, I've noticed people vomit ALOT in china...not just from drinking...or maybe that's just because one of my bus stops is next to a hospital...and the ladies throwing up are all pregnant...i dunno...or I'm just unlucky and end up witnessing alot of vomit and vomiting in general, so there are definitely locals getting "outbreaks" one way or the other out here too.

[gougou]

make sure it was properly refrigerated.

But how do you do that, in a country where the cold chain (i.e. temperature-controlled logistics) is still one of the largest headaches in retail?

[heifeng]

ask your magic eight ball i guess

[cdn_in_bj]

Can you imagine how much street dust must have been stuck onto that sugar coating.

Yes, exactly. I think most of us probably come from places that are not as windy and dusty as here, and may not realize how dirty street food can be. Oh how I miss those days of grabbing a hotdog or a sausage-in-a-bun after a night of drinking.

make sure it was properly refrigerated.

But how do you do that, in a country where the cold chain (i.e. temperature-controlled logistics) is still one of the largest headaches in retail?

I've had yoghurt that I had inadvertantly left out of the fridge at room temperature for over 24hrs. Of course, the container was still sealed but the taste was right and I didn't experience any problems afterwards.

Also, I recently had a couple of leftover "sticky rice with chicken wrapped in tea leaves" that I had also left out at room temperature for over 48hrs. I knew I was taking a risk with the chicken (back home they tell us to put chicken back in the fridge right away), but it was really good and I was hungry. And again, no issues.

So perhaps that gives some thought to the notion of having to keep food refrigerated at all times. Or maybe I was just lucky. But I think one should still be more careful with raw meat and frozen foods. And in case you're wondering, I would never leave food out at home.

No, it was technically a huazhuanr (sometimes after they weigh it the label says mantou...sometimes huazhuanr and its white and purple speckled.)

So the speckles are supposed to be bits of green onion, right? But then shouldn't they be green, not purple?

[Rincewind]

No, it was technically a huazhuanr (sometimes after they weigh it the label says mantou...sometimes huazhuanr and its white and purple speckled.)

So the speckles are supposed to be bits of green onion, right? But then shouldn't they be green, not purple?

I've seen something matching the description in the shops here. I may be wrong but I thought the purple bits were red beans? Those red beans seem to get into everything, even ice cream. I'm gradually getting used to that but not quite yet.

[lilongyue]

Does the OP know not to drink unboiled tap water? I came to China after two years in other Asian countries, which included almost a year in India, so I had a stomach of steel by the time I arrived. But, one time some unboiled tap water got mixed into my boiled drinking water (long story) and I wound up with diarrhea, a fever, hot and cold flashes, and a general terrible feeling. I eventually went and got antibiotics, and that cleared it up.

As far as I understand, most yogurt in China doesn't contain the active cultures that have the health benefits discussed. The only one that does is the Japanese brand . . . damn, what's the name. . . it's Yakult I think. If you want to eat yogurt to aid digestion you'll have to find that brand.

[xuechengfeng]

Every time I've gone to China (x3), I've gotten sick. The worst was the most recent experience. The only explanation I can come up with for my violent sickness was after I brushed my teeth on the train from Beijing to Chongqing, I rinsed it off quickly with some water. I felt sick towards the end of that 35 hour train ride and it carried on for the next 5-6 days. Unfortunately, 4 of those days, I was stuck on a miserable boat down the Yangtze and I was in the bathroom at least 10-15 times a day. I also had a fever and when I went to the 10-year-old "doctor" on board, there were roaches in the room and when I asked what would happen if I get seriously ill, he said he could give me an IV. I chose to risk death by way of avoiding an IV.

[here2learn]

cdn_in_bj said:

've had yoghurt that I had inadvertantly left out of the fridge at room temperature for over 24hrs. Of course, the container was still sealed but the taste was right and I didn't experience any problems afterwards.

Also, I recently had a couple of leftover "sticky rice with chicken wrapped in tea leaves" that I had also left out at room temperature for over 48hrs. I knew I was taking a risk with the chicken (back home they tell us to put chicken back in the fridge right away), but it was really good and I was hungry. And again, no issues.

So perhaps that gives some thought to the notion of having to keep food refrigerated at all times. Or maybe I was just lucky.

I totally have the same experience. I have been REPEATEDLY amazed at the things I've eaten which, in the US, I probably would have thrown away thinking it would kill me!

I always thought eggs had to be kept refrigerated. Nope. You can leave them out for a darn long time, like weeks if it's cool in the room. I had no idea.

And leftovers... I've carried leftovers from restaurant to 4 other places all day, then forgot it on my table, then microwaved it the next day til I heard it sizzle, figuring sizzling sounds must kill germs, and eaten it with no problems.

Yogurt & bags of milk - same as you.

WATER

I know a foreigner who got food poisoning for a week after drinking a few glasses of tap water. This same foreigner (and I'm the same) uses tap water for washing food, brushing teeth, rinsing mouth, washing dishes and then using them if they're still wet, etc. These tiny amounts haven't given me one problem.

I will not hesitate to wash an apple and eat it still wet. I have also eaten pineapple on a stick from street vendors when the fruit is sitting in water. I doubt they use bottled water, but maybe... not. Anyway, no problems.

I can't imagine a quick rinse of water making you go to the toilet 10-15 times a day and lasting that long. I know we're all different, but what makes you think it wasn't some food you ate? I'd think of that before a quick rinse of water.

[adrianlondon]

I always thought eggs had to be kept refrigerated.

Many people think that. The fact that (in the UK at least) the supermarkets don't keep eggs in the fridge seems to go totally unnoticed ;)

They will keep longer in the fridge though.

[xuechengfeng]

I was always afraid to drink yogurt left out, but my Russian friend did it all the time with no problems, so I finally gave in.

[yonglin]

I always thought that yoghurt was made by keeping it out in room temperature making the bacteria proliferate.

In China, most dairy products (bagged milk, commerically produced yoghurt, etc.) are UHT treated, and can thus be kept at room temperature for a very long time.

Edit: Just realized an interesting thing: when I was up in the westernmost parts of Xinjiang, in a very undeveloped and quite mountaineous region, I noticed that most people there didn't have refrigerators. Also, they tended not to eat very much meat: probably because they were poor, but also because if they slaughter a lamb they'd just have to eat all the meat at once - there would be no way of storing it. Their main source of protein was eggs and yoghurt (all kept at room temperature).

In fact, I read that if you pasteurize dairy products, they will become unedible once they age. If you don't, then they will ferment and become all sorts of nice edible things such as yoghurt and the like. I would think that the people in these regions drinking so much yoghurt in the first place has to do with the fact that they cannot store fresh milk (it would go bad rapidly), but need to keep dairy as a major constituent of their diet. I bet that the kind of yoghurt usually kept at room temperature in China is this kind of non-pasteurized yoghurt (or, UHT treated, of course, for the commerical varieties).

And as for UK supermarkets, they do keep eggs at room temperature. However, I also noticed that shelf stocks in English supermarkets are not very big (they often run out of things), and tend to be refilled very frequently. Thus, I bet that the eggs aren't there for much longer than a couple of days anyway. In fact, I read somewhere that the date stamped on egg cartons presumes you keep them just below room temperature, so if you keep them in the fridge, they'd remain edible for a lot longer than that (you can just pop the egg into a bowl of water: if it "stands up" then it's gone bad, if it lies down, it's just fine).

[here2learn]

Many people think that. The fact that (in the UK at least) the supermarkets don't keep eggs in the fridge seems to go totally unnoticed ;)

In US stores they're ALWAYS in the refrigerator section with the butter and cheese. Eggs are part of "the dairy aisle".

I have grown up every day of my life in the US only seeing them refrigerated in stores and in homes. Never once saw an egg left out unless it was hard-boiled at Easter time.

Hmm.

[Rincewind]

Don't put eggs in the refrigerator. They will go bad faster!

I used sell eggs for a living (a long time ago). Eggs should be kept just below room temperature but a refrigerator should be less that 4C. That's too cold. They will go bad if they are too cold. In the old days, people had larders. This was a room just off of the kitchen which was always a little cools but not cold. In here you could keep many things for a long time.

Red meats like beef and lamb can be kept for a long time too without refrigeration. Just so long as you keep the flies off it. Not so long ago, meats would be hung by the butcher for weeks before being sold. This process of hanging meats was thought to improve the flavour. One supermarket in the UK (Sainsbury's) has a range of 28 day hung meats. That means the meat has be stored for a whole month, not refrigerated, before you by it. We have all become too soft these days.

[adrianlondon]

Leaving meat to age, which in my opinion makes for a beautiful steak, is something my Taiwanese partner can never accept. As far as he's concerned, everything should be as fresh as possible. The idea of hanging meat (which does improve the flavour) is alien to him.

Then again, the idea of eating a steak is alien to him too. Just meat? As far as he's concerned, the whole point of meat isn't to have any flavour, it's to give you something to chew on when you eat sauce ;)

[Lu]

I was always taught to keep eggs in the fridge, Dutch fridges (I assume most western fridges) even have those special half-holes for eggs. And then one day I got a roommate from Curacao who left her eggs just in the kitchen. If you can have that habit in tropical Curacao, I guess it's ok everywhere.

[Mao Zhou]

I would also think about MSG. Many restaurants still use it. They have told me they don't but I see many use a chick essence called jijing. It contains MSG. The MSG made my friend sick until he found some restaurants that didn't use it. After a while he got used to it and now he eats everything.