As different as East from West: Ice it or not!
Comments(0) Once in my class I asked my students to tell me some things they thought Americans had in common with the Chinese. One student blurted out, “Well, we have two eyes, a nose and a mouth.” That about sums up the similarities. The differences could fill a book or two, I am sure. No doubt many books have been written on the subject . One difference I would like to expound on here is our view toward ice.
Americans have this huge appetite for ice. We can’t seem to survive without it. We have a good stock of ice cubes in our home freezer so it’s always handy for a drink. Of course we also have rules to govern the use or misuse of ice trays. If one takes ice without filling up the ice tray for the next user, he’ll be chastized by mom, dad, or the roommate. Most modern refrigerators, in fact, have automatic ice makers so no one has to bother filling up the trays. There is always a constant supply of ice, automatically. Sometimes, however, the few ice trays in the freezer, and the automatic dispenser are not adequate, so we can go to any corner market and buy several pounds of ice in a bag labeled ‘party ice.’ It is sold as a large block, cubes or crushed to fit different needs. Few people have a decent party without buying several bags of ice. Maybe this seems like a strange idea to the Chinese because in China I have never seen ice for sale in the local Chnese store. Additionally, the ice cube trays that were with my fridge were tiny things which made half-inch square cubes. It would take the whole tray to adequately ice one drink. The larger trays they sell in the stores are not of the best quality and crack after repeated use.
Of course, things are this way because the Chinese have somewhat of an aversion to ice. The Chinese philosophy of moderation in everything also affects their attitude toward ice. One should never eat anything too hot or too cold. The cold is too jarring to the system. Besides, there is some belief that eating something cold might affect your health by allowing too much cold in your body which may get trapped in there and cause pain and cramping later. (This is what I have gathered from conversations I have heard. My Chinese visitors are welcome to correct me if I am wrong.) So the idea of pouring a drink over a glass filled with ice leaves most Chinese ‘cold.’ Of course, we can see this is changing. You will find that many fast food restaurants such as MacDonalds serve drinks with some ice and many people drink them that way. Also in the summer when it’s blisteing hot, vendors sell bottles of frozen water at the various parks, including Tian ‘an men Square. Many restaurants also carry ‘bing de’ drinks, but the customer often has to ask for it cold otherwise the Cokes and Sprite will be served at room temperature. Americans, on the other hand, would never think of drinking warm soft drinks.
In America in the summertime, where would campers be without bags full of ice for their ice chests. That becomes one of the daily camping duties: to keep the ice chest properly filled, not only to keep the fresh food fresh, but also to supply plenty of ice cold drinks and more ice to put in the cup to pour the drink over. In China, camping is a relatively new past time and given their attitude toward ice, I don’t expect they’ll be buying any ice chests any time soon.
Then there’s the ubiquitous ice machines in American restaurants and bars. Every establishment has one and it’s kept running day and night. It has an automatic sensor that tells it when it needs to make more so there is never a shortage. When soft drinks, water or iced tea are served the glass is usually filled to the brim first with ice and then the beverage poured over it. We love having ice cold drinks, winter or summer! No doubt we pay more for the ice than the beverage. InChina, for the most part if one wants ice with a drink one has to ask for it and then it’s not always sure the restaurant will be able to give it to you. The other thing that’s missing from Chinese reataurants is the glass of ice water that is usually the first thing that’s put on the table in an American restaurant. If a person orders water in a Chinese restaurant, he will probably be served plain hot water in a tea cup or glass. I don’t think I ever drank a cup of plain hot water in my life before coming to China. Of course, part of the reason for their habit is health related since tap water in China should never be drunk without boiling it first, so people have just grown accustomed to drinking hot water.
Another important place for ice machines in America is in hotels or motels. It’s just taken for granted that each floor of every hotel will have its own ice machine. My duty as a kid when the family stayed at a hotel was to go down the hall, find the ice machine and fill the plastic garbage can full so we could ice the canned beers and pops we had brought as quickly as possible. It is just an expected amenity in any hotel no matter how many or how few “stars” it may have. Not to have an ice machine would be unthinkable. In contrast, I have never found an ice machine in a hotel in China. I guess it would be foolish to expect one. Chinese people just don’t like ice. Instead of the ice machine, each room has a thermos of hot water to make tea or just drink it plain as ‘bai shui’ (boiled water). Whenver you need more, you can ask the room attendant or wander down the hall your self and find the water boiler, (it’s where the Americans would put their ice machine.)
Well with the Olympics coming I can see an ice crisis on the horizon. In fact I heard from a student not long ago that he had a sort of ice crisis already. This September Beijng held the Good Luck Beijing Games to ‘practice’ for next year. Our students have volunteered at many of the events, also in practice for next year when they will all volunteer for the real thing. The student was working with some of the track and field events and one of the athletes suffered a minor injury. The coach immediately asked our student where he could get some ice quickly. The student was stupefied. Ice? Where would you get ice? He didn’t have a clue. The corner market wouldn’t have it. The hotel wouldn’t have it. Possibly a nearby restaurant? I am not sure if there was a MacDonalds close by, but that would have been his best bet. In the U.S., ice is just a necessary first-aid item It’s the first response to many muscle injuries, to pack the affected area in ice to reduce swelling.
This might be a boon to some ice machine entrepreneur: making sure all Olympic venues have a fully functioning ice machine, not just for the first aid value, but for the comfort and convenience of all the western athletes who find it natural to cool off with plenty of ice.
