Indeed: If one lives in a city or depends on others for drinking water, that would be the first choice. A healthy man (word man is gender inclusive) can go a month or so without food, but will not last more than a few days without clean water. YMMV.
Do not be too quick to blame the Chinese for poor quality, they are fully capable of producing any level of quality the customer is willing to pay for. That customer would be the distributor here and if he specifies cheap junk, they will produce cheap junk.
No: they get USD-fiat currency which has further devalued since remitted. There are better ways to save than loaning to the fed at 2% when inflation is in the neighborhood of 18%
ein Laib Brot, ein Fass Bier und du neben mir in der Wüste und ich werde fett, betrunken und in Schwierigkeiten sein
From the German version of the Rubiat of Omar Kahyam
A great collection of beer mugs
I am guessing that it is not selling because many families are having trouble just putting food on the table and keeping the lights on and because of the gas-lighting. Example "you can't eat gold or silver"
Hint: those smart enough to buy silver now are not buying it to eat.