What else would 19 year-old boys do? We never used the public restrooms, and heaven knows there were times we needed to after eating at some of the locals’ homes! Still, we would squeeze a dime and wait till we could trot home. It’s hard to believe this was better than the public places, or even using the john in the homes.
I have to admit, this was the worse place I lived in while there, and it was at the beginning of my stay. Most of our apartments were pretty nice with Italian furniture and Spanish tile. Towards the end we had a few apartments with air conditioning! It’s amazing how much $300/mo. will do for you in a country like that.
Flusing with the bucket controlled the stench at home.
I also experienced this while traveling in Czechoslovakia in the socialist era. I never saw this in private homes, but when we stopped along the "expressway", we found filthy squatters with no toilet paper or running water to be found. I'd had no idea these things existed in Czechoslovakia at that time. It was the last time we stopped along the road until after the freedoms had returned, along with a renewal of public facilities!
I am frankly surprised that the Chinese haven't done more in the way of upgrading to western style toilets for this event. This will come as a great shock to many visitors.