One ancient travellers' practice (China)

 

This blog is further to 以毒攻毒 (see link below), although they're not quite the same thing.

    My brother told me a few decades back that he'd heard about a traditional travellers' way of doing things in China.  I don't know how geographically wide this practice was, or when (historically) it was in common practice.

    By "traveller", presumably it is more someone who went around the country sourcing / selling goods, or someone going to visit relatives in another area, rather than our modern-day concept of travelling as a tourist, as tourism wasn't that common in those days.

    The practice was in a few steps:

* go to the loo upon arrival at the new place – to clear the system of whatever's been accumulated from the previous place or on the way;

* have a shower – to wash off the dust from the previous place and the journey (and presumably whatever germs that might've been picked up on the way);

* drink the water from the local well – to get the system acclimatised to the local conditions (e.g., microbes).

(From googling)

Quote 

Microbes, or microorganisms, are incredibly tiny, living organisms that are too small to be seen without a microscope. They are found in almost every environment on Earth, including the air, water, soil, and within our bodies. Common types of microbes include bacteria, fungi (like yeast and mold), archaea, protozoa, and some microscopic algae. While some microbes can cause illness (known as pathogens), many are harmless or even beneficial, playing vital roles in digestion, decomposition, and nutrient cycling.

Unquote

以毒攻毒：https://piccola-chinita.blogspot.com/2025/08/chinese-sayings-39.html