Using a swimming pool in China

[dodgygoods2000]

Hi,

I am going to study at Guangxi University in September, I noticed when I was there a few months back that they have a outdoor swimming pool.

Just wondering is it safe to swim I mean its a bad idea to use tap water to brush your teeth so should a pool be safe to use?

I have all the injections you need.

Cheers,

Stu

[yonglin]

I used to "swim" in the outdoor university swimming pool in Xi'an. No ill effects. On the other hand, I also used tap water to brush my teeth, so perhaps I'm unusually sturdy(?). Anyway, the water will be chlorinated, which will kill off most bacteria. You probably shouldn't swallow too much of it, but you shouldn't swallow too much of chlorinated water anywhere, really.

(I wrote "swim" because whenever I went there were so many people in the pool that it was impossible to swim more than like two meters without bumping into someone. It was more like playing in the pool. Also, this pool actually looked a lot cleaner than the indoor swimming pool at my English university which always kind of grossed me out a little bit...)

[hunanfan]

I've been swimming in six different pools in China. Two in Kaifeng, three in Changsha, and one in Chenzhou.

One in Kaifeng had crystal clear water on Monday, but by the end of the week it was a nice shade of green. Needless to say, I preferred Monday thru Wednesday for swimming. (We went early, and there was never any large crowd.) The other was a big pool with a little water park. The water there seemed to always be clean.

In Changsha, one was in a hotel that seemed okay, but not as clean as I'd like it, and the other two were in a nice apartment complexes and always seemed to be very clean. These were always very crowded.

The last one, in Chenzhou, was a spring fed pool (they had one outdoor and one semi-indoor), that was also pretty clean.

Me, my friends, my wife, two small sons, and even my parents (in the Chenzhou pool), never had any problems with the water.

You should be okay.

Stephen

[liuzhou]

I have often been swimming in outdoor swimming pools in Guangxi (as well as other parts of China) without problems.

I also always brush my teeth with tap water without problems.

[muyongshi]

I also, brush my teeth. Oh, wait....

Ok, I do use the tap water for teeth brushing. Always have. Never listened to those that said don't. Still alive.

Swimming pool water I do not use to brush my teeth however I have drunk it on occasion. Result: still alive.

As long as the pool doesn't look funny, I'm willing to get into it. Time to break out the speedos!

[Scoobyqueen]

I have been swimming in several pools in Beijing. The water in one was heavily chlorinated much more than I had "smelt" anywhere else. However, looking at the roof structure whilst doing backcrawl I was more worried about the roof caving in!

The great thing about China is they have 50 m indoor pools. I didnt expect that.

[dodgygoods2000]

Thanks for the info.

I brush my teeth with tap water as well and had no problems when I was in China.

I to thought I had a iron gut then I went to India