Has sir washed his hands

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Service in Chinese hotels can be fairly brusque but not from the toilet attendent in the International Beijing Hotel.

Linda and I booked a tour there and subsequently that was the pick up point. The tour started at 8 A.M and we faced a bus trip of 3 or 4 hours to our destination. While we waited for the bus I remembered words of wisdom from my mother before long journeys in my youth. This was the phrase " Do you want to go".

Given our experience of Chinese public toilets, it seemed prudent to go where the facilities of a 5 star hotel were available. So I used them and they were very plush and clean indeed and included a uniformed attendent. Unsure of the etiquete concerned I gave him a small tip on the way out. In fact I used the facilities twice. The thought of using a Chinese public toilet will do that to you and therefore tipped him twice. He seemed very happy indeed with this small token of my appreciation.

A couple of days later we were waiting for another tour, same time, same hotel. Again, it seemed prudent to use the facilities available and the attendent, the same as before, gave me a wide smile when he saw me. However, both stalls were occupied so I decided to wait at which point the attendent began to treat me to charades as to what the occupants were possibly up to, reading a paper, texting etc. Use your imagination. A stall became vacant, I enter it and begin to lose the door, when suddenly a hand appears from nowhere and hands me a fresh roll of toilet paper. Very nice indeed. That goes straight into my rucksack as you learn never to travel without a spare roll in china. I finish my absolutions and go to wash my hands. The attendent turns on the taps for me, hands me the soap, etc. I go to dry my hands with the paper towels and he drys them for me. After my hands are dry I assume thats it, but no. The attendent straightens my collar, tugs my shirt straight etc. At this stage I wouldent be surprised if he combs my hair. I give him his little tip and he gives me a big smile and indicates that a lot of other people are cheap and do not leave a tip which explains the personal attention. Still, I trot out the door fairly briskly to avoid a possible pat on the ass on the way out.

So if you are ever in Beijing, feel a bit down and could do with some pampering visit the mens room in the International Beijing Hotel. Tell them I sent you.

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