The bathrooms in China
I’ve seen people stress about this way more than they should. Way more.
As a child I was taught to hover in public bathrooms and to never sit on a public toilet. As an adult I still can’t bring myself to do that. I still hover.
So for me the squat toilets were no big deal. They were actually a lot easier for me to use than a regular western public toilet. When given a choice I went to the squat toilet.
But maybe you don’t hover, maybe you sit and then just take your chances with the germs. If you’ve ever “gone” in the woods then you’ll still be fine with a pit toilet, just think of it as squatting in the woods behind a tree (without the birds singing in the background).
If you’ve never gone in the woods and you are terrified at the prospect then maybe you can wait until midnight and then pee in your own backyard just so you can convince yourself it’s possible? There are plenty of things to be nervous about, so at least convince yourself that you can do this if you need to. It does take a little coordination of how to hold your pants and how to aim the flow so that nothing gets wet that shouldn’t get wet. Much better to figure this out in your backyard than in a bathroom somewhere far far away. Quick hint – if you arch your back then the flow goes more down, if you round your back then the flow goes more forward.
As for what to expect in China some of that depends on where you go. The toilets in your hotel will be a normal western toilet pretty much no matter where you are. Most of the tourist spots in Beijing have stalls with both kinds of toilets. Most of the airports I’ve gone to also have both styles. If you open a stall and see a squat toilet then go look at some other stalls and see what you see. Some of them are marked on the outside of the stall with a line drawing.
Many restaurants will only have a squat toilet. Also, many tourist spots in other parts of the country will only have a squat or pit toilet.
I’ve used a bathroom at a busy tourist spot that was literally a very deep hole dug into the ground that stunk so bad I gagged and came very close to throwing up. I had to go really bad, so I used it.
I’ve also used bathrooms where the “toilet” was a one or two foot deep concrete hole that must have had a sideways exit that led to some kind of sewer or septic tank. To “flush” you manually turned the water on to a hose and used the hose to wash it down, and then turned the faucet of the hose back off. Most of these bathrooms apparently don’t have the little “u” pipe that keeps the sewer smell out of the room.
But most of the squat toilets will be normal porcelain flushable toilets that you hover over instead of sit on. Their cleanliness will vary widely – one of the smelliest most disgusting bathrooms I’ve been in was at the Jade Factory in Beijing. Which was surprising, since the building is so nice and the customer service is so good. But the bathroom was beyond horrid. Another of those that smelled so bad I came close to throwing up.
One of the nicest bathrooms was at the Summer Palace – complete with soothing music and burning incense.
Another thing to keep in mind – many bathrooms will not have toilet paper, nor will they have a sink. You’ll want to keep tissue and hand sanitizer in your pocket.
To ask where the bathroom is in Mandarin, you say:
cè su? zài n? er
The pronunciation is:
tuh (ton without the N sound)
swa (swan without the N sound)
zie (rhymes with Tie)
nar (rhymes with Car, but draw it out a little)
Don’t ask it like we ask a question, say it as a statement. It’s probably okay to say this one without worrying about tone – most Chinese people will be able to figure out what you’re asking.
The word for toilet is “cè su?” – so if you can only remember part of it, that’s the part to remember.
Some people will tell you to that “where” should be n? li instead of n? er. Both will work, but n? er is the way most Chinese people would ask. Using n? li is much more formal, kind of like saying “whence is your restroom” instead of “where is the restroom”.
Oh, one more thing. Some guides in China will refer to the restroom as the “water closet”. Don’t let this throw you, they mean the restroom when they say this.
The biggest thing to keep in mind is that when your guide suggests you use the bathroom someplace you should listen to their suggestion. It’s likely that they know this is the last decent bathroom you’ll be around for a while. They likely won’t come out and say “the bathroom where we are going next smells horrid, so you should probably use this one”, but there is a good chance that’s what they mean when they say “if anyone needs to use the water closet you should do so now”.
But please, don’t stress about the bathrooms in China. So you’ll see maybe a couple of really disgusting bathrooms during your two weeks in China. You will survive them, and it will take up less than five minutes of your entire two weeks.
May 4th, 2006 at 6:40 am
On my first trip to China a women in my group just wore long jumpers and no underwear which made the whole process much less complicated. I imagine that might not be practical in the winter though!
For those of you with shy bladders, here’s a good exercise to start now while brushing your teeth each day. This will build up your endurance as you wait for your bladder to cooperate. :-)
Wall Seats:
Sit against a wall with your feet shoulder width apart and about 18-24″ away from the wall. Start sliding down the wall and hold a slightly flexed position for about 30 seconds, then slide down further to a more flexed knee position, again for 30 seconds. Finally slide down to where your knee is at a 90 degree angle between your upper and lower legs and hold for 30 seconds. Then reverse the routine by sliding and holding positions as you go up. As your legs get stronger, simply hold the positions longer.
May 22nd, 2006 at 12:23 pm
What I also found that helped with squat toleits is (if you have on jeans or long pants) pull up your pant legs as far as they will go- or to your knees- then pull down your pants. I was so afraid of “going” on my pant legs- this helped a great deal.
June 2nd, 2006 at 10:56 pm
This may be a little gross, but what about if you have your period? Is there privacy to deal with that “stuff”?
June 2nd, 2006 at 11:03 pm
Yes, in most places there are stalls. Just make sure you’ve got napkins or tissue or something with you.
June 17th, 2006 at 4:57 pm
What do the disabled people in wheelchairs do when they have to go to the bathroom in public?? I imagine it cannot be too pleasant.
July 3rd, 2006 at 12:12 am
Actually “Nar” is with the beijing accent- Where is “NA”- in the north they add the “r” because of the beijing accent (it actually has an additional character to represent the r!) “Na li” is how they say it in the south. There are a number of words which contain an “r” when spoken in the north, and are slightly different in the south, Na happens to be one of them. (the r is just added on the end in the north, in the south they add on the “li” instead of “r”.) Both mean the same thing, generally speaking most people will get it if you say “nar”, but if in doubt, the potty dance should get the message across!!!
July 28th, 2006 at 9:07 am
Here is the scary part… I am actually looking forward to testing out one of these babies… I too was taught to ‘hover’ over the loo and not touch the seat… I have squatted behind a tree… I see I have had training… hahaha… sad thing is that I have to pee all the time… if they aren’t cubicles then I will finally understand what the hubby goes through in the ‘Gents’… wonder if they will have newspaper on the wall to read… hahaha… all part of the adventure… Felicity
August 23rd, 2006 at 7:46 am
i thought “Kegal” exercises were for pregnant women! guess it would benefit a woman adopting from China, too!
October 3rd, 2006 at 12:58 pm
If I had my way I would much rather have a ‘squat’ to use than a western toliet based on some that you come across at home. Atleast you don’t have to sit on something dirty!
November 8th, 2006 at 3:59 pm
Are the stalls tiny like some very frustrating American ones? It’s hard to hover and touch nothing when the stupid doors open inward and the space is tiny. Also…do the walls go completely to the ground or can people look under the door as you squat? I am ordering a product called Uri-mate. It enables a woman to pee standing up! I’ve tried it. It’s awesome! You can get them online. But practice in the shower first.
May 10th, 2007 at 12:11 pm
I’m happy to tell you that I visited the toilet at the Jade Factory in Beijing in December and it was excellent. I’m guessing they’ve cleaned it up – maybe they read this blog!
May 18th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
That is the first I have heard of the formal/ informal distinction. Interesting. Nar is said in Beijing, while na li is said in Shanghai. Beijingers add an “arh” to many words. Lots of people in China think the Beijing accent is more correct than others, but I think everyone just talks like a pirate around here.