One of the biggest shocks when it comes to travelling in China is the feral state of their squat toilets. Not only do you have to get used to doing your business in the squatting position but you also need to remember not to flush your toilet paper away!

I first discovered the wonders of the dreaded Squat Toilet in my younger years living in Malaysia, and although it was not the best experience, it was still an experience for me to learn from.

* Always carry around toilet paper, hygiene wipes or tissue paper (some public toilets will sell packets of tissue at the door)
* Always have 20sen ready so you can pay to gain entry into the smelly public toilets
* Bring a friend, Malaysian toilets are notorious for having bad things happen to helpless women on their own
* If you are wearing pants or jeans, it is a necessity to roll them up prior to entering
* Expect to be greeted with wet, dirty floors
* If you get a seated toilet, be aware that many Malaysians will still squat on those seats
* Beware of your neighbours. The person next door may decide that the cubical needed a quick rinse… or at least, that’s what I hope that water was….
* High heels/stiletto shoes are not advisable unless you are experienced

Prior to China I had always believed that I had already experienced the worst that I could experience (in regards to squat toilets), there could be no way in this lifetime that people could live in a country with public toilets worse than Malaysia. I was, of course, completely naive and obviously not using my head.

The worst public toilet I’ve ever encountered was in China’s rural region. The good thing is that the toilets aren’t difficult to locate, you just need to follow your nose. There are however, a lot of bad things to note about rural public toilets.

1. The stench is enough to make you faint
2. There is no toilet paper
3. There is no toilet flush (their flush is actually someone throwing water down the trench 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 toilet door
7. There is a waist-high toilet wall dividing each ‘cubical’
8. There is a foot deep little trench to do your business
9. There is a waste-basket for used toilet paper and sanitary products (if you’re unlucky, you might not even have this)
10. There might be someone’s #2 waiting to greet you
11. There will likely be many naked bottoms and other bits to greet you

China sure knows how to bring their people together.

Here are some things you may want to consider in preparation for the worst toilet experience in China (and some other countries)

* Never travel without toilet paper, hygiene wipes or tissue paper
* Some nice public toilets have a toilet roll near the entrance
* A face mask doused in perfume/cologne may help with your trip to the toilet
* Always look for a 4 or 5 star hotel, or a newly built hotel to use their lobby toilet
* An umbrella is a useful tool to hide your ass from fellow toilet users if there is no door
* Always use the toilet at hotels even if you don’t need to, you never know when your next toilet break is or how much worse the toilet may be.
* If you are lucky enough to get a squat toilet, face away from the hole (I was never sure why but a friend told me that #2 will go straight down that way. But I’ve still encountered evidence of people facing the wrong direction and #2 was obviously not flushed away)
* Never flush the toilet paper down as you will clog the pipe! (more on this later)

No matter how many times I use those squat toilets and how often I hear how hygienic it is compared to western toilets, I will always prefer western toilets! The fact is, not everyone knows how to use a squat toilet properly and I know there is a larger percentage of people who miss when it comes to squatting.

Now on to the importance of NOT flushing the toilet paper down the pipes!

I never really followed this advice until I stayed in the Beijing student dorms when I studied there. As a result of not obeying the rules, I had to go without a toilet for up to 24hrs on several occasions. The toilet actually clogged up a couple of times even though I didn’t flush toilet paper!

It’s not a proven fact but rumour has it that the waste from the top floor dorm rooms drain down to ground floor, so you will likely have more clogged-toilet problems at the lower level dorms. I know for a fact that some of my friends staying on the ground floor of the dorm building had the worst smelling toilets even after they had bleached the whole room…

Just Don’t Do It!

Don’t flush toilet paper down those pipes!! Think about the poor Chinese people whose job is to unclog the mess you make, and just be grateful that the toilet can even flush!

Click here for more on flushing problems.

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in Beijing for Christmas and New Years! It feels odd that I’m here in little Wudaokou studying for the up-coming exams (starting Friday 4th) when I’ve always had this time of year to sit back, relax and bum!

One thing I find really stupid though, is the fact that we technically still have to go to classes 2nd and 3rd January! The staff at BLCU (语言大学) can’t really expect us to attend do they? What in the world could we learn the couple of days before exams?? Even our teachers were shocked that some of us attended classes after Christmas!

Anyhow, I have got to say that 2007 has to be one of the best years I’ve ever had in my life! Not only have I made a whole bunch of great friends, I also feel like I’ve been given a breath of fresh air.

I think I really needed that time away from the routine I had myself trapped in.

Now all I need to do is to keep focused and not get distracted!!

加油！加油！

Anyway, I’ll end this with photos of my New Years in Beijing =P

我很久没有参加圣诞节。小时候，我的父母带我们小孩儿去看屋子装得很漂亮的彩灯。我们从来没有圣诞树，可是我们吃特别好吃的菜。

来到北京，我的英国朋友介绍我他们传统的圣诞节。真的有意思也很好玩儿！

一起床就从圣诞树下面找出来你的礼物。


圣诞节的时候，一定要和很多酒 （啤酒，红酒，白酒等等）。


每一个人有圣诞crackers，圣诞cracker里面有小礼物。


他们做很多很多的菜。



吃完以后就听朋友唱圣诞歌。

我门休息以后就吃圣诞节特别的甜品。

酒倒在蛋糕上面，然后点火，火烯了以后就可以吃！

二零零七年就是我最喜欢的圣诞节！

Christmas in China isn’t traditionally celebrated but more and more young Chinese celebrate the occasion for the gifts and ‘togetherness’ it brings them.

Catriona and our fellow UK friends introduce classmates to the meaning of Christmas, SWEETS! Lots and Lots and LOTS of Sweets!! =P The classes at BLCU and everywhere else around China still run during Christmas including Christmas Day! But not surprisingly, most people don’t go to the class (even the ones who don’t celebrate Christmas!).

Although it’s quite difficult to find Christmas-y Gifts and products , many department stores and restaurants are fully decorated with Christmas tree and Santa!

We fell in love with Beard Papa’s ‘Fondant au Chocolate’ and decided to hunt it down for Christmas =Pp

Taking the subway on Christmas Eve was hectic because of the huge crowd! This photo is of the people lining up for the subway on the left, and people leaving the station (to transfer) on the right. Both are equally packed and has very little movement.

A very interesting way of drinking red wine introduced to us Aussies by our UK friends =Pp

Our candle lit Christmas Service led by Steph was like a very small version of Christmas by Candlelight =)

Just 20seconds in the microwave and you have the delicious Fondant au Chocolate!!!

I took a weekend trip to Dalian leaving Friday night and returning to Beijing on Saturday morning.

The two nights sleeping on the train turned out to be a lot more worth it considering their beds are much softer than the one I have in the dorms! The sleep wasn’t too bad because my bunk cubical for 6 didn’t have any extreme snorers or babies crying.

A weekend isn’t enough to really see what Dalian is all about but it seems that my tour guide easily covered the non-nature-related-attractions … within one day!

I like living in a city, always bustling with people and being able to always have/find something to do. But when a city gets as big as Beijing, the magic just fades after a while. A city like Dalian reminds me of Perth;

Big town turned small city,

limited places to visit,

shops close too early,

the ocean and

it’s own uniqueness!

How can you not love it?? =P

Don’t get me wrong, Beijing isn’t too fantastic even though I love it here, I just don’t like the fact that staying here has made me lose interest in the culture as well as damaging to my health. Beijing is just getting less and less mysterious as each layer of paint goes on.

All for the preparation of the Olympics of course!

Anyhow, the stay in Dalian was a fantastic mini adventure, and it’s probably the only city in China I’ve beaten my mum to =P wOOt!

Come Monday morning, the first thing that greets me back in my dorm is my fishy friend looking VERY dead. I suspect Jinjin and Heihei had another one of their head-butting rounds which of course Jinjin, the one that eats the most, came out on top.

aHhh well, it was bound to happen sooner than later….

There’s a notice on my dorm building (the main dorm for international students at BLCU) that told us that we won’t be having any HOT water for a week from 8am-6pm.

This is quite alright with me since I like having late showers anyway, but when I went to turn on the hot water (during the set time period), a stream of ugly brown sewer-like water came out!!! So, to my horror, I had to make do with an unsatisfying FREEZING COLD shower - and can I just add that it’s currently WINTER here and I’ve never experience below zero Celcius until now.

I suppose I should be happy it’s the HOT water that they’re fixing up and not the COLD water. It was already bad enough the last time we didn’t have cold water because that meant we didn’t actually have any flushing toilet water! I only discovered this fact when we had used up all the stored water in the toilet…

For those who may come across this problem, you might want to consider the following for flushing toilets:

1. Fill a large container (a medium sized pot will suffice) with water (assuming they only blocked the hot or cold water). If you don’t have either and you’re desperate, use drinking water.
2. Lift up the toilet lid to optimise the target area.
3. Position the container about 30cm from the toilet rim.
4. Pour in ALL the water at once into the toilet bowl. It’s important that there is a decent amount of water poured in all at once and also at a decent but steady speed to create the ‘flushing’ effect.
5. If the nasty stuff is still there, increase the amount of water and repeat with increased speed.
6. If it still doesn’t work, fill the toilet tank manually and then FLUSH!
7. If all else fails, call in a Fuyuan and bug the hell out of them until the toilet is fixed!

NB. The toilet service man usually only comes in the evenings around 4pm. If your toilet was blocked the night before, you might want to consider hiding out in the many cafes around the Wudaokou area.

And please remember, learn from other peoples’ mistakes, no flushing toilet paper down china toilets (especially the ones with the sign). The toilet WILL clog!!

Let’s hope this dirty hot water incident is a once off. I might have to borrow someone else’s shower if it isn’t fixed!!