The water man

In China one does not drink tap water. It is just not "potable." Not safe to drink. Everyone drinks bottled water - not just the handy sizes from the supermarket, but most homes have a water heater/cooler machine. This is for drinking water.

The big heavy bottles are delivered on a tricycle, just like this one, and the waterman will carry (for a small fee) the water to your front door. At the college, we dial a phone number, say our room number - and shortly afterwards a man arrives with some full bottles on the tray of his tricycle.

At the college we do not have elevators - so these elderly gentlemen carry the heavy bottle upstairs to the apartment whose dweller has ordered the water, and he will leave it by the door, and carry down the empty bottle to take back to the "Water room." We sticky tape a 1 yuan coin to the top of the empty bottle, which the man keeps for himself.

The heavy bottles are then lifted by the dweller onto a "water machine" which will pierce the bottle and allow the contents to flow into the well of the machine. A hot and cold tap fronts the machine.

Many households collect water from a machine at the gate of their village, or grounds of their apartment. User pays. Ofcourse.

We do feel sorry for the elderly gents who struggle upstairs with these heavy bottles.