China Toilet
In China, toilets have two types: Western-style Toilet and Squat Toilet.The Western-style Toilet is usually built in international hotels, large supermarkets, airports, train stations, western restaurants, Scenic areas, highway's service areas and beside streets of some tourist cities.The Squat Toilet is often built in rural areas of China.
How to find toilets in China?
1. Ask Chinese person:Remember a simple but very useful Chinese sentence when you are searching a comfort station: "请问, 厕所在哪儿?" (Qĭng wèn, cèsuŏ zài năr?) = Excuse me, where is the toilet?
2. Looking for the sign
Pay attention to the Male or Female sign or picture at the toilet door, please recognize the Chinese characters "男" and "女", which mean Male and Female, or Gentlemen and Ladies respectively. Also "厕" means toilet, so that "男厕" is restroom for male and "女厕" is for female.
Chinese Toilets Tips
1. Although most toilets in China are free of charge, have a few coins (1 or 2 RMB) with you for use in some public restrooms in some large cities, Shanghai, for example, is really useful.
2. Going toilet in your hotel before you go out .This is a good way to avoid being caught in a place that will not have a nice toilet.
3. Packing tissues is must at any time. Before you even leave your hotel, make sure you've got portable toilet paper with you because lots of public restrooms don't provide any. Wet wipes and hand sanitizer are also good to have. Even if there's a sink, there may not be any soap or towels.
4, At restroom, you can find doors have signs indicating Western or squat toilets. To check the lock, if it is red, then it is occupied and green means free. But you need always knock before getting into it. (The photo on the right shows a public toilet inside Zhangjiajie National Forest Park)
5. If you can, have a friend hold your bags while you use the washroom. There are generally no hooks in there, and you'll need your hands to balance, dig around your purse for tissues, and hold on to the door if the lock is broken. Plus some washrooms in China can be rather wet. Whether from the splash effect or an overeager toilet cleaner running amok with a mop, your squat toilet stall floor might endanger your bags or dry trousers. If it's looking wet, roll your pants up.
How to Use a Squat Toilet ?
Once you've found yourself in a squatty potty, it's really not that bad. Many argue it's actually healthier to go this way than sitting down. But if you're not used to it, squatting can be really difficult if you don't know how to get into position, stay there, and use the toilet correctly.
1. Face forward and try to let your pants down while ensuring that the ends aren't touching the floor (hopefully you've rolled your cuffs.) There are grooved places for your feet on either side of the toilet. Try to get somewhere in the middle, feet flat on the floor, and aim for the potty. Just like that.
2. One key piece of etiquette: no paper into the potty. Chinese plumbing in public restrooms generally doesn't handle wastepaper. If possible, try as hard as you can, though, NOT to look at the basket, as it's usually open and teeming with things on which you'd rather not lay eyes.
3. When finishing up, unroll your pants, wash your hands, and out you go, you accomplished squat toilet user.
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