BEATING THE BETEL
Fifty-two-year-old Mr Liu likes to bet in underground gambling dens. Chewing betel nut helps him keep focused. He can easily get through 200 nuts per day – four whole packs. The nuts, which come from the areca palm, give users a buzz familiar to coffee drinkers and cigarette smokers. One of the major downsides: chewing betel nut stains your mouth, lips, teeth – and even your stools – an unattractive shade of red. It can also lead to at least five types of cancer.
A habitual user like Mr Liu – who sells peanut wraps to tourists visiting the Wufongci scenic area in Jiaoxi, a hot-spring town in the northeast of the country – doesn’t seem to be concerned, though. Indeed, he is proud to show off and even let me photograph his vermillion tongue, flecks of the nut still
