In my modern Beijing apartment, we have an electric hot water heater in the bathroom. The hot water runs to the shower -- which has no stall, only a curtained off corner of the room with a drain – and the bathroom sink, but not to the kitchen.

Feng shui has become a popular cultural import in the West, but it's poorly understood at best.

Chinese people only rarely drink plain water, and if they do, they drink it boiling hot, no matter what the temperature is outside.