Disappointment after first trip to China

[Tomsima]

Another option if you have the opportunity: first go to India, then go to China. Puts nainai holding baby pooping over random flyer lying on pavement into perspective.

[snowflake]

Both mainland and Taiwanese Mandarin would fit the OP mentioned reasons for learning Chinese, at least on the surface. My own Mandarin is unintentionally a mix of the two.  I tend to use Taiwanese 说法 and speak using mainland tones.  Once in a while I'll use mainland 说法 and a Taiwanese person will explain why they think I shouldn't say that.   I have more mainland friends though spend more time talking with Taiwanese.  Much of my reading is from mainland writers due to availability.  Also my mainland friends seem to love using WeChat so it's not uncommon to get 50 messages in one day from them (all written in Chinese).   Keep in mind your goals and circumstances.

[grawrt]

I'm so surprised everyone is like "the bathrooms aren't so bad" uhh whaaat? 

 

The bathrooms are horrible. Squat toilets should be abolished, They need to also learn how to use bleach or some sort of cleaner  besides just plain old water. I can't count how many times I've entered a stall and I'm shocked to find that people are missing the hole in the ground. I thought I had experienced my worst public bathroom experience in Yunnan (just a line in the floor and half walls) but Xiangshan hit the ball out of the park. Literally a room with no stalls no walls, and a pile of dirty used tissues piled halfway up the wall and scattered around the ground. 

 

I don't think that makes me an 'entitled foreigner' to feel this way. There just hasn't been enough care put into maintenance and general hygiene of the bathrooms. 

 

Except for the fancy mall bathrooms which I find are a delight. But you can't always find them when nature calls. 

 

[imron]

21 hours ago, ChTTay said:

I think the food on the mainland is better though

I agree with you on this part, but considering that all of the problems the OP listed are either non-existent or not as big of a problem in Taiwan, the food is probably a small sacrifice to make based on what the OP considers important.

[ChTTay]

@grawrt

 

I don’t think anyone is disputing the fact the bathrooms are, on a whole, disgusting. 

 

However, if you live in a place it’s usually a lot easier to navigate the city in a way that means you never need to use these. At worst, you might find you need a “number 1” which, as a man at least, isn’t usually as harrowing an experience. 

 

As I mentioned, I can’t recall the last time i’ve had to squat here in Beijing. It’s literally been years. 

 

I have, of course, encountered disgusting toilets in that time as well. I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by the state of some of the public toilets that have been refurbished. Some of the new ones in the subway and hutong’s aren’t so bad. How long they’ll stay that way is uncertain, especially because of the lack of real cleaning. 

 

The worst one I’ve ever had to use was just a concrete box on a mountain in Ningxia province. They had just made a concrete trough that opened up down the mountain side. You could see straight down. Horrific smell and sight. 

 

In Beijing, it was one of the hutong ones opposite a bunch of restaurants. They pour fish waste and fishy water down there too which adds to the smell. My friend literally started to vomit while he was in there. I had my face covered. 

 

So yep, toilets are bad. As tourists I think you’ve just got to try and plan out your trips if you want to avoid bad toilet experiences. I did that for my parents when they came for a visit. 

[ChTTay]

@imron

 

Probably for the OP yes, based on their first post.

 

I’m in the states right now. Can’t wait to get back for a good meal hah!

[abcdefg]

5 hours ago, ChTTay said:

’m in the states right now. Can’t wait to get back for a good meal hah!

 

My own annual return to the US is coming up soon. I avoid Chinese restaurants while there. Seems they never quite measure up when you're used to the real thing. But, living in Texas, I go nuts on that great Mexican food. Also indulge in Popeye's fried chicken and some "non-weird" pizzas. Those squid and durian pizzas I find in Kunming just aren't the same. 

[ChTTay]

@abcdefg I had Popeyes in HK airport! No need to go back to Texas for that one :-)

[DavyJonesLocker]

9 hours ago, grawrt said:

 

The bathrooms are horrible. Squat toilets should be abolished,

 

Although, i have a bad lower back. Squat toilets really do give it a good stretch, so you know ..... every cloud. ....

 

8 hours ago, ChTTay said:

 

As I mentioned, I can’t recall the last time i’ve had to squat here in Beijing. It’s literally been years. 

 

The state company I work for only have squat toilets. It should have been written into the contract ... 

 

Actually regarding toilets I am not concerned about then now because I have trained myself never to use them. 

 

[ChTTay]

@DavyJonesLocker

 

One of my previous schools just had squat toilets too. Well, actually one squst toilet for all male students and teachers. If you timed it badly kids would come along and hit the door, bang on it, knock continuously etc. Worst case was that sometimes the lock just didn’t work very well. You don’t want to be caught in that position (literally). 

 

As I was in management I usually had a bit more time if nature called (due to not rushing off to class) so I just walked 2 minutes round the corner to an office building. They had a plush set up. Almost looked forward to those trips haha 

[Flickserve]

there are people paying good money to do squats in gyms for quads training and all you guys can do is complain ... LMAO 

[i__forget]

19 hours ago, ChTTay said:

As I mentioned, I can’t recall the last time i’ve had to squat here in Beijing. It’s literally been years

I went to a nice mall in Beijing (can't remember the name), and the toilet for disabled people on each one of the six floors couldn't be used. You either couldn't slide the door as it was blocked, or it wouldn't have a locker. 

 

Then after some more searching I found some toilets on the other side of the mall where not many people go and could find a working one. 

 

I agree on the comment about abolishing squat toilets. They really are not that bad once you get used to them but I think as a human species we have discovered better alternatives. 

[abcdefg]

35 minutes ago, i__forget said:

I agree on the comment about abolishing squat toilets.

 

Please don't abolish mine. That's all my old apartment has. Between it and the four flights of stairs (no elevator) I maintain a minimum level of physical fitness. 

 

 

[Shelley]

It is apparently more natural and better for us to squat, it would have been our only choice back in the cave days

In the UK they are recommending putting a small stool under your feet when you use a sit on a toilet to closer mimic squatting

 

I think their main problem from all the post so far is the cleanliness.

So rather than start a get rid of squat toilets just start a Clean the Squat Toilet revolution. If you live in a block and share one, set an example and clean it with hot water and bleach/soap. If nothing else it will be clean for you.

 

I am surprised there was a lack of good toilets in Beijing because I remember when the Olympics were staged there, one of the things they were going to do was improve a large amount of public toilets in anticipation of all the visitors.

[happy_hyaena]

The cool thing is that Chinese people often switch directly from a squat toilet to a bidet, which is the most hygienic and overall best choice. But tell the average Westerner about using water to clean your ass and they will give you a look of mortification. 

[Shelley]

In Europe they are quite common, the word is after all French. We have a bidet, lots of people I know here in the UK have one. Most people know what one is. I think its more people from the Americas who are not familiar with them.

 

My cousin from Ohio still thinks mine is for washing your feet, which is what I jokingly told her not expecting her to believe that

[ChTTay]

I’ve never seen a bidet here in a house or in any kind of public toilet. 

 

I don’t think it’s a “Chinese” thing to do this? Is it common in a certain part of China? 

 

I’d prefer to squat in a horrifically unclean bathroom than sit on anything. You don’t have to touch anything that way! Also squatting would come in handy if in the wilderness! 

[happy_hyaena]

They're not at all common here in Sweden. I've seen one bidet but it was a separate thing next to the toilet and not like one of the extra attachments you can easily buy on Amazon.

 

In Vietnam butt guns were actually pretty common in the hostels I stayed at. I wonder why they aren't as big in China, where you have to throw your used paper in the bin (the REAL issue I have with toilets in China).

[DavyJonesLocker]

2 hours ago, ChTTay said:

I’ve never seen a bidet here in a house or in any kind of public toilet. 

 

I don’t think it’s a “Chinese” thing to do this? Is it common in a certain part of China? 

 

No definitely not a Chinese thing. However many are putting in that Japanese all-in-one style toilet with the fancy control panel. They seem to do this when they do a redecoration. 

 

I recently decorated my appartment and was surprised how many stores  stocking modern and good quality furnishing. Uk seems to have gone backwards inn this regard.

 

Many are even putting in an oven and sacrificing that traditional all-essential kitchen appliance....  the plate warmer 

 

[Meng Lelan]

I'm late to this discussion, but wanted to comment. I visited China in the early 80s to assist setting up programs in the schools for the disabled in Beijing and Tianjin. Many things you disliked were a lot worse then. However, many of the things you dislike now, might be disappearing sometime in the future. An example.  Back in the 1980s the deaf were more or less on the social level of isolated outcasts with no connections to each other and to the normal hearing community. They didn't have sign language interpreters, they didn't have any rights, they didn't have TTY for the Deaf, in those days there was no internet, no cell phones, no nothing for the deaf.  I remember I used to have to write a postcard in Chinese early in the morning and pop it into a mailbox, and that afternoon it would be delivered to a deaf friend, who would read it and respond by writing a postcard in Chinese and pop it into a mailbox early next morning. God help the deaf who couldn't read Chinese characters. My normal hearing classmates couldn't understand why I was studying reading and writing like I would die if I didn't. Actually, I would have almost died if I hadn't studied reading and writing at the frantic pace I was going at.  

 

The technology in China is absolutely stunning now. Now they pop out a cell phone instead of popping a postcard in the letterbox by 7am. 

 

At any rate, I agree with some of the comments here that maybe the better option would be to explore Taiwan or Singapore. If you're very into the language those would be viable options.