First, hot water can sterilize. In fact, in China, hot water must be heated before making tea or drinking water since ancient times, because the domestic environmental pollution is relatively large, and chlorine-containing disinfectants are added to most tap water, so water cannot be directly drunk, and it must be heated to be safe to drink. Therefore, in China, you should drink water, mostly hot water, or wait until the hot water cools down. But some people can only drink hot water because they can't wait, and this habit has slowly continued to the present.
Many people will feel warm after drinking hot water, mistakenly thinking that it is good for their health, but in fact, ice water is also warm in their stomachs, so drinking hot water will not be particularly healthy, and drinking ice water will not be particularly harmful to their health. In fact, the effect is the same, but personal preferences and habits are different.
Second, domestic tap water cannot be directly drunk. In fact, water can be drunk directly abroad. There is a filter at home, so foreigners can drink water directly without heating at all. However, the domestic water quality does not meet the requirements, so our country has to boil water since ancient times, otherwise it will do harm to people's health, not only prone to stones, but also prone to chlorine poisoning. So unless you drink mineral water in China, you must heat tap water.
However, there is no hot water option in foreigners' consciousness. They have been drinking ice water since childhood, whether in summer or winter. In winter, because of the heating and fireplace, the indoor temperature is very high and dry, so they need to drink ice water to relieve it. Therefore, it is impossible for foreigners to think of drinking hot water, except coffee, but the temperature is around 60 degrees Celsius, so it is impossible for them to drink boiled water like China people.