China Toilet Groove (Contains Video)

Everyone who travels in China for more than, say, five minutes, has something to say about her toilets.

But I stand by my column (above) – they are nothing! Nothing, compared to only a few years ago. Here’s one:

Inside, or rather, behind the corrugated wall, was a deep ditch, not at all empty, with two narrow planks balanced across it. One slip of a toe and I wouldn’t have been here today.

Now? Nothing! It’s almost impossible to fall into anything and drown anywhere.

The last big China trip I went on, to northern Yunnan province, this was the worst toilet we found:

It was a kind of trough that wasn’t we suspected, rinsed out all that often. And yes, it did smell. Ironically this was the only toilet we had to pay to use.

Talking of toilets, now you can learn Cantonese through the medium of song!

我要去廁所 – O yiu heui chiso (I have to go to the toilet)
廁所有冇廁紙 – Chiso you mou chiji (Is there toilet paper in the toilet)
大陸廁所而家唔錯 – Dai Luk chiso yiga m cho (Mainland toilets are now not bad)