Potty Patrol

No blog on Chinese life isn't complete unless there is an entry about the infamous "squat pots". Traveling around with two kids, we have seen more than our fair share of bathrooms - the good, the bad and the truly stinky . I no longer avoid them - when ya gotta go, ya gotta go! But I usually send G. in to report on the condiiton, then make my decision.

This is the typical model: I found that the key to staying dry afterwards, as a female, is to squat as low as possible. You must bring your own TP to put in a basket. As you can imagine, not everyone is a good aim, so it can be really yucky. These types of toilets are also in homes and dorms. With the custom of removing shoes at the door of someone's home, I can see why plastic shower shoes are needed to use the facilities.


A bathroom at the kids' school: The long trough on the right (one straddles it) is another style, generally seen in places where a lot of people use the bathroom. Usually there are partitions and doors for privacy, but the toilet is one long ditch with a sensor flush.


Seen in a stall in a McD's: McD's has both the Western and Chinese toilets. Westerners think the the squat is gross and the Chinese think it's disgusting that someone would sit bare where someone else previously sat!


Oh, the things we have needed to learn!