China's Bathrooms
Trip Start
Mar 13, 2011
1
26
Trip End
Mar 25, 2011
Andover, New Hampshire
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Some of us peek to see what which type, squat or western, is at each stop. To be fair, cleanliness is unrelated to the type of porcelain. The cleanest bathrooms that I’ve found were at the terra cotta factory, and they were totally native.
On the train, there was a squatty on one end of the car and a standard (for us anyway) on the other. The kids tended to gravitate to the western end of the car.
I have it on good authority that you can utilize the squat toilet while in a dress, with tights and a scarf, and while wearing heels. So I guess you get used to it.
It was interesting to note that the urinals at the Terracotta Warrior Museum in Xi’an, China, were "American Standard". Apparently not everything is Made in China.
Michael told us that the Chinese are more circumspect and less direct when it comes to bathroom duties. Rather than say they are going to the bathroom, they may call it the Happy Room. Or it may be referred to as singing a song, as in “I need to go sing a song.”
Other points to remember: The water is usually cold, the paper towels are usually gone or not provided to begin with, the hand blow dryers seldom work and, most importantly, the roll of toilet paper is usually on the wall as you come into the washroom instead of in the individual stalls, making it important to plan ahead.
There is one other point that I find disconcerting at times. While the actual toilet rooms are segragated into men's and women's rooms, the washroom area usually are not. So the first time I entered the men's room, I found a woman there washing her hands. After doing a royal double-take, I noticed that another pair of doors announced the men's room separate from the women's. After that I was not as surprised. Surprised still, but not as much.
