Chinese Bathrooms

The bathrooms in China aren't quite up to American standards, but I have to say that I think the bathroom situation has improved significantly since I was in China in 2004, thanks to the Olympics I'm sure.

This is the Women's restroom at a university. Yes, those are squatties, and no, there are no doors. My dad reports that he once saw a man squatting on the toilet while his friend stood at the open doorway chatting with him, face to face. Not something that would happen in America.

There is no toilet paper in any of the stalls. In a really nice public restroom (such as this one), you will have a toilet paper dispenser in the common area where the men and women share sinks. The dispenser in this picture is above the radiator, and you can grab the free toilet paper and take it in with you. The really interesting thing is that the toilet paper also doubles as paper towels, and is even labeled as such. Have you ever tried drying your hands with 1-ply toilet paper? Not a good idea.

A Squattie

In the really nice tourist areas, like the Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven, there are a few "seater" toilets available amongst the squatties. This is an exhibit from a Chinese museum showing the proper way to use the Seater. True story: my dad found footprints on a seater in the Forbidden City.

Almost all of the young children we saw are wearing split-pants. This particular child has a diaper on underneath.

This child does not.

Another true story: my parents saw a toddler squat in the middle of the airport and leave a nice deposit in a public area, and then the parents just walked off and left it there. I don't have children yet and so have no poopy diapers to change, but I'm thinking the Chinese have got the system figured out better than we do. :)

Fortunately, this was our bathroom for the duration of our stay in China. It was very Westernized, and for that we were very grateful!