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So I've been meaning to write about bathrooms and sewage for a while now because it's an unforgettable experience in China. Let's start by talking about toilets which are most likely going to be the first thing that you encountered here. Most toilets in China are a hole in the ground. Well - not just a hole. Most of the squatty pottys are set along side each other on a tiled platform that is raised slightly above the walk way. Furthermore, these toilets may or may not be separated from each other by walls, doors or any combination of the two. From above, the toilet often looks similar to a regular toilet seat only set into the ground instead of being set on an actual toilet, so you have to squat over it. You can find Western style toilets, for example, in Western style restaurants like McDonalds and in some hotels, but they're not common, and I've heard that Chinese people don't prefer them because they feel that sitting on these toilets is unsanitary. Never mind the fact that you can either line a Western style toilet seat with toilet paper or a sanitary cover before you sit down or the fact that you can just hover over it to save time; no no, Chinese people find it much more sanitary to skip the whole process and to squat over a hole instead. Truthfully, they'd be right IF all Chinese people had mastered the art of the squatty potty by now, but they haven't, so if you go to a public restroom here, you're likely to find all kinds of bodily fluids on the floor because people miss the toilet a lot. Yes, wading in human refuse is much more sanitary than using a Western style toilet which is probably one of the reasons why Chinese people don't wear their shoes in their homes.
As I alluded to before, not all public restrooms have doors. I went into one restroom where there were dividers between the toilets, but there weren't any doors, which makes me question the point of having dividers. This set up was even more curious for me because the toilets were in two rows facing each other. Now personally, I'd rather have a divider in front covering my direct line of vision than having a wall that covers my peripheral, but maybe peeing across from each other builds a sense of community... or not. Anyhow, I really had to go to the bathroom, so I went for it, but just after I settled in to do my business, all the stalls filled up with people. I ended up squatting across from a little girl who was about eight, and I was sure she was staring me down.
Awwwwwwkwaaaaaaard~.....
There are a few more things you should know about public restrooms in Tianjin:
1) Almost none of them provide you with toilet paper, so you have to bring your own.
2) Public restrooms are almost never cleaned, or so it would seem.
3) The hand washing area is often times outside of the womens room and the mens' room, so you walk out of your respective separate toilet areas and wash your hands together.
4) It doesn't matter how nice the public place is, the bathroom will make you cringe.
Now the other night while I was at the skate park, I had started walking down a pair of steps when a little boy who was about three tripped and feel forward in front of me. Lucky for him, he caught himself, unlucky for me, I was introduced to the carefree children's wear of China. Apparently the Chinese also think that Western style diapers are unsanitary because children have to sit in their refuse before the diapers changed, so they don't use them. Instead, very young girls and boys walk around in slit pants, similar to chaps where the whole inside area's missing. This is so children can just go in public if they need to. One man here saw a little boy pooping on the side of the road, I saw a mother holding her daughter over a bush in a park next to a busy road way. I saw bare butt cheeks wandering around McDonalds, and I was not prepared to see what I saw in the skate park, hahaha. I mean... it wasn't horrible considering that the child who fell couldn't have been older than three, but it was jarring because how often do you see that in America?? Children aren't supposed to run around with their business hanging out for the world to see. Well, actually, you might not notice that the pants are slit right away... until the child starts moving, then it becomes obvious.
Before you become acquainted with children's wear, you might become acquainted with the streets of the city which small like raw sewage. You'll just be walking along and you smell something that reminds you of a port-a-potty rising up from the street. Mmmmm~ Eau de China... Avoid any water or sludge that you see on the streets like the plague because it's most likely either infused with sewage or it is sewage. Man, I miss the days of water just being water, and sludge just being mud. I've completely stopped wearing flip flops since I got here because the ground's too filthy, and it's too easy to get your feet covered in China's native, city soils if you wear them.
Before I forget! It's perfectly acceptable for both men and women to hock big loogies in the street, though men are the ones who do it most often. Youth don't do this as often as older generations. It's also perfectly acceptable to mine your nose gold in public. We saw one guy digging in his nose for five minutes straight, no exaggeration. What was he looking for up there?? Sometimes people will look at you while they pick their nose. It's very attractive. Finally, it also appears to be acceptable to pee in allies.
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judy
non-member comment
hahaha
you seem like you are having quite an eye opener there....hahahahahaha.....haha...oh, too funny!!!