Interesting Facts About China

Hygiene Is Paramount

Whether they were part of the ruling class or peasants, people in Ancient China has incredibly high hygiene standards- particularly for the time period in which they lived. In fact, bad odor was associated with barbarism and therefore looked down upon.

In order to keep smelling fresh, upper class women would wear scented bags around their waists. Any noble who had the opportunity to talk to the Emperor would chew cloves before their encounter in order to avoid having bad breath. Unfortunately for the poorer working class, they had to resort to other methods such as washing themselves with urine. Throughout the rules of the Xia and Shang dynasties, it was common etiquette for men to wash their hands five times a day, take a bath every fifth day, and wash their hair every three days.