On toilets..

Kate just put up a post venting about squat toilets (she's pretty much on target by the way; I still can't balance properly in a squat that leaves an opening without using at least one hand for balance, and I've been told that people of European descent are literally not flexible enough to hold that position for any length of time. I'm not the person to test that out on (Nastia Liukin, maybe?), but it's definitely true in my experience), and seeing it gave me the opening I've been looking for to discuss a different feature of bathrooms that I discovered on our trip: the no poop toilet.

This was not something I had anticipated. Basically the state of plumbing in many restaurants here is such that the pipes can’t handle anything more solid than urine, so they have screens over the drain and signs warning you off. The first time I saw one of these—it was along the lines of “Please No Defecating in Toilet”—I was a little puzzled (“Are you shitting me?” hahahah). But later ones made it more clear: “No Shitting;” “Our plumbing is old and will not last if subjected to stool;” “Please do not poop in the toilet”. Wait, what? Don't poop in the toilet?? Where are you supposed to poop then?? Even Salvador’s, the nerve center of Western life in Kunming, doesn’t take any crap from its customers--you have to pay 50 yuan if you accidentally poop in their toilet.

I guess what you should take from this is that you shouldn't necessarily go for restaurants in China if you need a quick dump, but rather stomach the half kuai and go for a public trench-type establishment. Also that I'm more amused by this kind of thing than I should be.

Ok, I've done two posts a day for two days straight. You people are going to get spoiled.