Face to Face Squatty Potty

For those of you who may not know, the Chinese and many others, have a different idea about how to use the space Westerns usually reserve for a toilet in a restroom. The Chinese prefer to squat over a open hole in the ground, rather than sit on a pedestal when doing their business. The Chinese seem to prefer the squatty potty so much that even if they have an opportunity to use a pedestal toilet they prefer the squatty potty or they literally stand and squat on the pedestal toilet. The Chinese also are not shy to use the restroom when needed. Just this afternoon, I saw a car park in the middle of a busy three lane street to get out and pee in the bushes on the other side of the sidewalk, right in the middle of the city; something someone would get fined and maybe arrested for in the United States.


For some Westerners this type of toilet can create some challenges. Some avoid squatty potties at all cost, such as changing their plans and driving to a different location to use a Western toilet if nature calls. Other Westerners embrace it as a fact of life while living in China. I'm in the second category. I attribute my ability to be able to embrace the squatty potty and to pee on the side of the freeway or gravel road to my days as a child spending family vacations camping in cow pastures and spending time on my grandparents farm. I've learned there are no reasons to avoid the squatting position when needing to use the restroom.  


That being said, I can still be surprised by toilet situations in China. For example, the introduction to the trough squatty potty. I encountered this at the Great Wall Marathon. Basically there was a trough built into a cement ground along the entire wall of a free standing shed and people do their business squatting next to each other side by side with no dividers between them. This past weekend I was again surprised by a toilet situation... face to face trough style squatty potty. Let me explain... imagine the trough style, but instead of sitting side by side you squat face to face about 3 feet apart with another bathroom user and straddle a urine filled trough built into the floor. They do exist. Again, there are no dividers, so not only are you face to face peeing with someone else, but there are 10 other woman standing watching. Again, good thing I'm not shy about these things...