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How do the Chinese in the south manage in the hot and humid weather? Learn about the "hot and cold" concept in the way the Chinese eat and drink.
The drink is dark, bitter, of thick consistency and hot, what is it? It’s the “cooling tea” of the south. An essential part to maintaining one’s health in the hot and humid south. What is the concept behind this tea? Chinese herbal medicine is based on the yin and the yang, a balance between these two energy forces ensures good health; an imbalance of these forces causes health problems. These forces are not only enforced in the Chinese people when they visit their herbalist. The balance of the yin and the yang are a part of everyday life and directly effect what a person will for each meal. The two main energies requiring balance that the Chinese in the south are concerned about, are “hot air” verses “cold air” and “wet” and “dry.” If you offer a mango to someone, there’s a high chance they will say “oh no, I can’t take all that “wet heat.” “Wet heat” being the combination of “hot air” and “wet.” Another fruit that contains too much “wet” is pineapples. The side effects of being overly “wet” are feeling lethargic, having diarrhea and weakness in the body. The cure for this is to watch carefully what you eat, stay away from “wet” foods and go to the local “cooling tea shop” to buy a dark, bitter, hot drink that will make the “wet go away.” Perhaps the concept of having too much “hot air” is a little easier to grasp. If a person consumes too many oily and fried foods, this results in pimples on the skin, or constipation, both being signs of over heating in the body. Being too cool is rare, but leads to similar symptoms as being overly “wet.” Most people are easily over heated and thus the stalls selling teas that offer herbal remedies are called “cooling tea shops.” Unfortunately most food that makes your mouth water belongs to the group of foods that will make you “overly hot”. There are "cooling tea" stalls on almost every other block in the south of China! These drinks are absolutely essential to life in the south. These common concepts, are concepts that seem very foreign to many people who live in the western world. Though if you find yourself traveling in a hot and humid part of the world, you may welcome some remedies that can cool you down. Fortunately, not all teas are dark and bitter. There are some more appealing refreshing alternatives that will reduce the heat in you. For example coconut milk, chrysanthemum tea, boiled Chinese pear with honey, these are sweet alternatives. Many Chinese will claim that these do not count as “cooling tea,” because they are lighter and are sweet, but they do have some use in balancing out the body.
The copyright of the article The Cooling Effect in China Travel is owned by Larissa Cherry. Permission to republish The Cooling Effect in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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