Liquid refreshment that's no longer on tap

Beijing has indeed arrived on the global culinary scene, and not just for its renowned roasted duck, slithery sea cucumbers and divine dumplings.

It's the water, pure and not so simple, that's lubricating the drink menus of the capital's hottest restaurants and showing the sparking sophistication of local palates.

Where visiting showboating Shanxi coal mine bosses once spiked their Chateau Lafite with 7-Up, we now have entered a gentler age, one with the emergence of the "water sommelier" - the expert on bottled aqua pura.