In China, the pools are overcrowded and the water is almost toxic
Swimming has long been a symbol of physical strength in China , but outside of the high-level sports schools, swimming in competition is not the preference of ordinary Chinese who prefer to make it a hobby. For most Chinese, swimming pools are simply a place to cool, not to compete. During the beautiful days of summer, when the heat becomes unbearable, the pools explode in a debauchery of colors while thousands of bathers jump into the water to escape the torrid heat. The popular argotic expression used to swim is « boiling dumplings » (tapez dumplings on Google) because public pools are so crowded that everything you can do is overplace.
The lack of infrastructure for swimming is the main reason why the pools are crowded in China, and because of this people cannot go swimming in the year, as we do at home as a hobby. According to the deputy head of the Hongkou public pool “many local governments cannot generate enough money with indoor pools to make them work all year round. »
But the number of facilities increases as incomes rise and private sports halls with pool proliferate. Some of these pools are huge. The « Dead Sea of China » ( Dead Sea of China ) is a saltwater pool located in the county Daying , in the province of Sichuan, which is inspired by the true Dead Sea found in the Middle East. The pool covers an area of 30 000 square meters and can accommodate up to 10,000 visitors at a time .
Another swimming pool in the Yao Stink district is able to accommodate a stunning number of 230,000 swimmers .
A toxicologist noted after taking a sample of the water that urine and faecal matter composed almost 90% of the mixture.
Are these images scouring you? They should... According to a report by the Ministry of Health of China published in 2011, out of 5639 public pools tested in 24 Chinese provinces, 10% of them exceed the urea safety limit. In case you don’t know, the urea comes from the urine.
The research also found that the total percentage of bacteria in a pool reached 92.3% while the E. coli bacteria rate was high of 96.9%. The consequences can be fatal. . In 2008, a man died and 3158 swimmers were severely poisoned when they swallowed the water from the pool that had been contaminated with urine and fecal materials of 47,000 swimmers in the gigantic Mao Mao Municipal Pool in Beijing.
Pools in Japan
The phenomenon of overcrowded pools is also common in Japan. The photographer of National Geographic Michael Yamashita , which caught images of a typical summer day in one of the largest water parks, Summerland Tokyo said:
"Most people can be horrified, dismayed, taken of nausea and generally disgusted by the large number of swimmers caught in these mega-piscines . There is no doubt that, given the warmth, humidity and population of Tokyo in the summer, swimming pools receive a record number of visitors and push the limits of water sanitation. Japan, on the other hand, is prepared for this , and manages to keep everyone happy and cool, no matter how crowded the pool is, by moving the water rather than swimmers.
Although not exactly propitious to make lengths, the giant wave pools break down with waves of a meter or more, watering the still swimmers so they don’t need to swim to cool off. Other swimming pools have circular pools with a current that holds everyone in the same direction. And of course, the Japanese, of tradition and by habit, are probably the cleanest in the world. The water of these pools is clean for consumption! »
Maybe, but if you travel to China or Japan, avoid swimming pools in the summer!
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