Local Food, Getting Sick, US Track Team

The US Olympic Track Team have been training in Dalian for the past month, training and getting sick. The 拉肚子 (la du zi) is pretty familiar for anyone new to Dalian and is highly annoying - quite different from mildly enjoyable Olympic Fever.

The proportion of the team sick is around 15%, a figure the US Olympics Committee said was typical for an international trip.

Dalian does offer a lot of culinary temptations: from some of the best seafood in China (comprehensive list) to freshly boiled dumplings to hotpot to cheap and tasty street side BBQ. But don't eat it, especially street side, assuming there's no chance it won't twist and stretch an intestine like a rubber band.

The US team are not dependent on Xinjiang chuanr and 2 kuai beers for their nutrition needs. They have a specialist chef from the Denver campus of Johnson & Wales University. In addition, long before the Beijing Games commenced, secret Olympic farms were instructed to use less/no pesticides for vegetables and raise meat in safe and sanitary conditions. The US team has probably been eating better than anyone else in Dalian for the past month.

Getting sick is normal for anyone relocating to Dalian or anywhere far from home. Even if the food is clean other factors influence sickness including:

• unfamiliar strains of common viruses and bacterias we're immune to back home,
• dirt in places we're not used to: Spit on Dalian's streets is a given and human feces not uncommon, take your shoes off when at home and wash hands whenever possible.
• Hepatitis is easily spread through unwashed glasses - drink from the bottle.

Local custom and awareness of an unfamiliar situation also helps prevent many diseases:

• tea is drunk hot therefore killing bacteria and other nasties,
• when eating a shared dish stick to the small corner or section near you - it's the height of rudeness to grab randomly from all sides of the dish,
• fruit is often served unpeeled and the skin disregarded,
• a clove of raw garlic taken during a meal is a natural protection from diarrhoea,
• and when food is served it should be thoroughly cooked, rare meat is rare here for good reason.

Most importantly, keep those hands clean.

References: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/16/sports/olympics/16food.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7245652.stm

Image: http://flickr.com/photos/cdharrison/2575008703/ (Creative Commons: Share, Remix, Attribution)