Life is tough. Hang around a while, and reversals of fortune will turn order to chaos, growth to decay, and rich nations to arrogant debtors. No one knows that better than the people of Shanxi province. Eeking livelihoods from the loess plateau, the hardy Shanxi ren found the fortitude to lay the foundations of the Tang Dynasty, then a pan-Asian banking empire.

A lot of good that does them today. While coastal cities wax fat on sea trade, Shanxi wrangles a livelihood out of coal. The soot thickens wind already laden with loess, making for gritty lives indeed. But the people of Shanxi don't want pity. Steadfast and resilient, they plod on, knowing that's all to be done, PMA or no.

But they have an ally in their travails - vinegar. Not that clear stuff in the Heinz bottle, but dark, mellow, "mature vinegar", chencu. Unlike those feckless Sichuan folks, who can depend on rain and fertile earth, and get their jollies eating fire, Shanxi ren enjoy the bitter tang of chencu in their daily bowl of flat noodles.

Actually, it's unfair to lump Shanxi chencu in with the garden variety pucker sauce to be had at the supermarket for two kuai a bottle. It's also unfair to pick on the Sichuanese love of red pepper - they need it to combat the humidity that seeps into their bones. But this ain't a court of law; it's an extended admonition to start sucking down Shanxi vinegar, thinly disguised as a commentary on the land of its origin and what we can learn from its people.

Regarding Shanxi people, besides their persevering characters, they are also noted for their lithe forms, strong constitutions, and seeming immunity to the plagues of modern life: obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and the like. Naturally, low per capita income has something to do with it. But if you ask them, they'll swear by their chencu. "A family with two taels' worth of chencu has no need to see doctors," as the Shanxi folk saying goes.

Two taels' worth of chencu  means a whole lot of naturally fermented goodness. You can make vinegar out of almost anything, grapes, apples, rice, malted mash. Shanxi chencu, however, is a potent reduction of sorghum, barley, and peas. The better varieties bake and rebake these ingredients, steam them, ferment them, filtrate them, before mixing them with water and leaving them in ancient vats to age, where they're exposed to sunlight for at least a year, killing bad bacteria and breeding beneficial.

Granted, that's a breezy explanation for the crafting of a product whose artisans jealously guard their secrets, and which first tickled a Shanxi tongue some four thousand years ago. The thing is, we're selling the benefits, not the features. You want step-by-step chencu making, by all means head on out to Shanxi's vinegar museum in Qingxu county. It's not much competition for Xian's terracotta warriors, but a huge draw for laoxier, as the locals call vinegar addicts.

 Believe it or not, the palate that can become addicted to high fructose corn syrup can also learn to love chencu. Pungent, but only mildly bitter, especially the stuff aged for eight years, good chencu imparts a mellow, beany flavor with hints of molasses, perfect for noodles, jiaozi, and in virtually all sauces slathered on meat.

Even if you don't like it, learn to love it as you love good health. Although it tastes sour, vinegar is heavily alkaline, and therefore an almost magical antidote to all the meat, salt and sugar making you more acidic than Dr. Leary's party favors. Even more significantly, Chinese medicine holds that vinegar, especially "mature vinegar", is unparalleled in fighting high blood pressure.  This medical opinion has been in circulation since at least the Qing dynasty, when doctors used to incorporate chencu into a plethora of medicines. Of course you can always wait for the AMA to confirm an organic product as effective disease prevention, which should coincide with Pfizer handing out free beta-blockers.

We'll leave you with ten healthy benefits of Shanxi vinegar. But do call for the cu instead of the soy sauce on your next Chinese restaurant visit. It's kept countless Shanxi people healthy through tough times, and just might do the same for you.

 It aids the stomach in digesting volatile elements, especially alcohol, by stimulating the production of gastric juices

Chencu assists the body's absorption of calcium, iron, and phosphorous.

The acids in chencu flush lactic acid and other accumulated toxins from body tissue, energizing and preventing fatigue.

It greatly promotes liver function, preventing fat build up on the organ.

It regulates blood sugar and prevents diabetes.

Like we said, it lowers blood pressure and wards off heart disease.

It increases kidney function by making it almost impossible for you to retain water.

It's murder on staph and other harmful bacteria lurking in your digestive tract.

It balances your blood's PH, slowing oxidization and paralyzing free radicals. Many a Shanghai beauty desperately clinging to her youth swears by chencu on noodles, mixed with water, and in facial wash solutions.

It reduces the craving for sugary, starchy foods. No more breaking down and sobbing around gobfuls of Big Mac.