One of the biggest surprises when it comes to traveling in China is the wildness of its squat toilets. Not only do you have to get used to doing your work squatting, but you also have to remember No to throw away the toilet paper!
I first discovered the wonders of the dreaded squat toilet in my younger years living in Malaysia, and while it wasn’t the best experience, it was an experience I learned from.
* Always carry toilet paper, sanitary wipes, or tissues (some public restrooms sell tissue packs at the door)
* Always have 20sen ready so you can pay to get into smelly public toilets
* Bring a friend, Malaysian toilets are notorious for having bad things happen to helpless women on their own
* If you wear pants or jeans, it is necessary to roll them up before entering
* Expect to be greeted with wet and dirty floors
*If you get a toilet with a seat, be aware that many Malaysians will still squat on those seats
* Beware of your neighbors. The person next to you may decide that the cubicle needed a quick rinse…or at least, that’s what I hope the water was…
* High heels/stilettos are not recommended unless you are experienced
Before China, I had always believed that I had already experienced the worst that could be experienced (as far as squat toilet), there could be no way in this life that people could live in a country with worse public toilets than Malaysia. I was, of course, completely naive and obviously not using my head.
The worst public toilet I have come across was in rural China. The good thing is that the toilets are not difficult to locate, you just have to follow your nose. However, there are many bad things to note about rural public restrooms.
1. The stench is enough to make you pass out.
2. There is no toilet paper
3. No toilet flush (your flush is actually someone flushing water down the ditch at the end of the day)
4. There is no toilet seat (no western toilet!)
5. There is no toilet hole (no squat toilet!)
6. There is no bathroom door.
7. There’s a waist-high bathroom wall dividing each ‘cubic’
8. There is a small trench a foot deep to relieve yourself
9. There’s a bin for used toilet paper and sanitary products (if you’re unlucky, you might not even have this)
10. There may be someone’s number 2 waiting to greet you
11. There are likely to be a lot of bare butts and other parts to greet you
China certainly knows how to bring its people together.
Here are some things you might want to consider in preparation for the worst bathroom experience in China (and some other countries)
* Never travel without toilet paper, sanitary wipes or tissues
* Some good public restrooms have a roll of toilet paper near the entrance
* A perfume/cologne soaked face mask can help with your trip to the bathroom
*Always look for a 4 or 5 star hotel, or a newly built hotel to use the lobby bathroom
* An umbrella is a useful tool to hide your butt from other bathroom users if there is no door.
*Always use the bathroom in hotels, even if you don’t need it, you never know when your next bathroom break is or how bad the bathroom can get.
*If you’re lucky enough to get a squat toilet, look the other way down the hole (never found out why but a friend told me that #2 will go straight down that direction and #2 obviously won’t it was deleted)
*Never throw toilet paper down as it will clog the pipe! (More on this later)
It doesn’t matter how many times you use them squat toilet and how often i hear how hygienic it is compared to western toilets, i will always prefer western toilets! The fact is that not everyone knows how to properly use a squat toilet and I know there is a higher percentage of people who fail when it comes to squatting.
Now let’s move on to the importance of NOT flushing toilet paper down the drain!
I never really followed this advice until I stayed in Beijing student dormitories when I studied there. As a result of not obeying the rules, I had to go up to 24 hours without going to the bathroom on several occasions. The toilet actually got clogged a couple of times even though I didn’t flush the toilet paper!
It’s not a proven fact, but rumor has it that waste from upstairs bedrooms drains downstairs, so you’ll likely have more clogged toilet issues in lower level bedrooms. I know for a fact that some of my friends who stayed on the ground floor of the dorm building had the worst smelling toilets, even after they had whitewashed the entire room…
Just don’t do it!
Don’t throw toilet paper down those pipes!! Think of the poor Chinese whose job it is to unclog the mess you make, and just be thankful that the toilet can even flush!