Wife is off to China on Wednesday. She has been discussing with her friend taking milk sticks for making tea and coffee in the hotel room.

Basically ive been scanning the web looking for info – some people say dont drink there milk – poor hygienic standards and can cause bad sickness. Other information seems to suggest not trying to take milk into the country.

I've told her that stw is bound to know the answer.

2bn people? Thats a lot of cows.

There were a few scandals with melamine being used to bulk milk out last year, as it passes some of the tests used to check if it's been watered down. End result was people dying.

In all honesty, I'd drink black tea and coffee if you're worried about it. Some countries are very funny about you taking agricultural produce in, and China is not somewhere I'd want to be banged up – I don't think "Wo shi ying guo ren" will get you very far.

cheers tron, best not mention that one..

Dairy products aren't common or popular in many Asian countries, IIRC, I believe it's something to do with not being able to digest it properly, although I could be mistaken. Tea is usually drunk without, especially green tea, and most other teas are not supposed to be drunk with milk, it's an English thing. Quality tea like Oolong is ruined by milk.

She could take a jar of coffee mate.

I mean the product Coffee Mate.

Not being over familiar with you, mate 🙂

heaven forbid she could drink it as the Chinese do? Its unlikely to be Tetley anyway

Just drink green tea……isn't that what you usually drink when you're having Chinese food ?

And I suspect you'll be having a lot of Chinese food.

confidence in chinese produced mlk is through the floor

apparently there is mass unofficial importing of milk products for babies/ children, UK (as well as plenty of others) manufacturers are shipping product out there and trying to enter that market

to cheer you up confidence in Europe in British milk is low

I visited a UK production faciity importing milk powder from Italy, processing it and exporting baby products to China/ Europe. Apparently UK milk isn't good/reliable enough (BSE, F+M etc)

interestingly it's also why you can't be a blood donor in Canada if you are from the UK

I really love that kind of stupidity. There are farmers who can't get a decent price for their meat because they had BSE 20 years ago, and now have an entirely new herd. But if you've ever had BSE on your farm, you can't get onto most supermarket / farm standards schemes.

In China, your wife may be amazed to disciver that they have managed to drink tea without milk quite succesfully for a long, long time.

I would honestly have thought that anyone going would do a small amount of research into what they might expect when they get there. Or do you still holiday in Spain with tins of baked beans in the suitcase because you "don't get on with that foreign muck"?

Jesus wept.

(FTR, I don't drink tea here, but will happliy drink green tea (deffo not black, unless refusal would be offensive) in China.)

Tea with or coffee with milk … I think that's Victorian or at least Western export 😆

Coffeemate – look at the ingredients as they contain hydrogenate fat … now that is one thing to avoid.

Jesus wept.

Jesus wept yourself! I like tea with milk in and if I go somewhere that's not common, it's hardly cultural oppression of others to choose to drink tea the way I like it.

I would honestly have thought that anyone going would do a small amount of research into what they might expect when they get there.

What, you mean like

scanning the web looking for info

and asking around online?

You may well find that Chinese tea isn't at all what you would expect. When I went to Hong Kong the tea was very very light, basically flavoured water which was very refreshing, but would be cack with milk. You'd end up with very watery milk.

This coming from someone who has two fingers at least of milk in British tea and two sugars.

Doesn't help you but yes there were many deaths not that long ago with a milk producer adding Melamine to milk, I am not sure but it may have been milk powder or a milk product that was effected. Adding Melimine artifically enhance the results that milk gives for protein concentration which masks a poorer grade milk.

Unfortunately for the consumers it is toxic and many deaths ensued, many of which were children.

They found one of the culprits and executed them, they dont mess about the Chinese.

I thought the Melamine issue was that kidney stones occur, then complications and death ensues.
So, perhaps avoid, but not avoid anything with milk products in it?

Read this

Of course, my entire knowledge is based on reading articles in the news, so is almost surely wrong.

Perhaps ask your local GP about the short/long term exposure to Melamine poisoning, they can then google/wiki it for you! 😉

she'll probably find that the tea in the room is green tea, if she is staying in a nice hotel, they might offer western tea and they'll probably also have little cartons of milk.

90% of milk in the supermarkets is UHT

Perhaps ask your local GP about the short/long term exposure to Melamine poisoning, they can then google/wiki it for you!

That made me lol.

perhaps she should also pack:

Bottle of HP sauce
'Proper' Tea Bags
Baked Beans
Salt and Vineger Crisps
UHT Milk

like one of my grans – well you can never trust that foreign muck (didn't like to point out that many 'english' things are yanky..

China – snake stirfry opportunity!

I spent 3 weeks in China a couple of years ago; never even thought about milk and can only remember drinking yak milk in the SW which was incredibly creamy. The tea in China really is incredibly varied and appealing so must try without milk.

no need to pack all those things, you can buy it all here…

HP sauce, Heinz Baked Beans, Worcester Sauce, Twinnings tea, it's all here…

except Branston Pickle, which I buy from Hong Kong, and Ambrosia Rice pudding, which I just can't get 🙁

Which city is she going to?

Just got back from a week in Taiwan. The kids made me a cup of tea. With milk. Was the first one I had had since leaving home.

I will be having a nice oolong this morning.

is she taking Marmite too?

Wasn't the melamine problem to do with manufacturers adding it to baby milk to boost protein levels to meet minimum standards? I don't recall seeing anything about standard milk being compromised in this manner?

ourmaninthenorth – Member

In China, your wife may be amazed to disciver that they have managed to drink tea without milk quite succesfully for a long, long time.

Mate you come across as a right obnoxios bellend. Yes the chinese may have but does that mean the OP wife MUST as well while she is there. I hate tea without milk and if she does as well then whats wrong with asking around.

ourmaninthenorth – Member
Jesus wept.

🙄

For **** sake this has gone a bit off topic. If she wants to have a cuppa in the hotel too
what's wrong with that? My original question was more related to customs and safety not the bloody right and wrong of taking your prefered tipple to another country. Yes she has the Yorkshire tea packed to actually becasuse that is what she wants to do.

Also she has 68 children to look after so she wanted advice incase any of them tried to take anything in their bags.

Some proper knobs on here at the moment

Some proper knobs on here at the moment

No different to any other day then 🙂

what about taking powdered milk?

This migth be useful for general travel advice:
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/asia-oceania/china/

Can't see anything specific about milk, wouldn't think powdered milk would be an issue, only if she was trying to get a quantity of liquid milk out.

This all reminds of stories I've heard of Americans bringing their own food into the UK cause the food's so bad here – don't they know we have McDonalds?!

Chinese Internal flights are a nightmare for carrying anything liquid.
They even don't like roll on deodorant bottles, and shaving cream and toothpaste. (regardless how small, they won't let you take it on board)
Water & any other drinks also can't be taken through security check as well.
If she is bringing Yorkshire Tea (can't get that here) then tell her to not carry it on.

If she decides that she needs to buy milk, depending on which city she is in, she can buy 'Wondermilk' which is around a £1 for a pint.
San Yuan Milk is also very good, and the company has a 100 year plus history so they must be doing something right.
Another company for milk is called ba xi, which appears in a white and blue container.

I personally have san yuan, it's the cheapest, and it's the only one they do in semi skimmed variety.
The fridge section of the supermarket is where you'll find it.

In China, your wife may be amazed to disciver that they have managed to drink tea without milk quite succesfully for a long, long time.

In China, ourmaninthenorth may be amazed to discover that they have managed to drink tea with milk quite successfully for a long, long time: from ???? in the southeast to the tea with milk in Inner Mongolia to milky tea in Xinjiang province in the west. In fact, "Herdsmen in northern Xinjiang customarily have milk tea at least three times a day".

So the OP's wife's dilemma will be solved if she simply links up with the nearest Uighur herdsman upon arrival, as apparently they have a ready supply of both milk and tea. Knew we'd get there in the end.

???? (Hongkong style milk tea) is made with condensed milk…mmmmmm yummy

I do like it, it reminds me of over stewed Yorkshire tea (need to add milk in the pot though)

In Mongolia, they also make a fine stiff alcohol drink which is milk based 😀