Posted on 01/24/2006 6:48:08 PM PST by Dr. Marten
Once had to aim for a 6-in diameter hole, while fretting greatly that I would not fill my shoes instead!
"Like so many other things the Chinese buy, they probably do so because they think we buy them, and they want to be like us."
No, actually you're wrong.
The Chinese have never tried to be like anyone else. They simply do as they have always done: borrow aspects they like from other cultures and adapt to their own.
LEAKY LEAHY? Oh dude, that's HILARIOUS!
I'll have to remember this next time I find myself on a Chinese train.
Those aren't half as bad as they look. Unlike western style toilets you don't actually sit down on them but rather squat above them. Once you realize that this means that no part of your body actually makes contact with the toilet you begin to appreciate this approach to public toilets. It's better than a butt gasket.
This reminds me of a former roommate, who had traveled from New York to Boston on a Chinese bus (it boarded at Chinatown). She said it was so filthy she would never again ride one, no matter how cheap.
Had collegues visiting from the States right before CNY last year, they couldn't believe the lines to buy tickets. I had to buy a ticket from Shanghai to Nanjing, my serviced apartment's front desk sent some poor lacky to the station and stood in line all day to get my ticket - I felt kinda bad ... but ...
To be fair, the sardin packed crowd are most consigned to the cheap seats in the interior lines, shell out the RMB for a soft seat or a soft sleeper on an express route and it's a decently fast and clean, comfortable ride.
One of these days I'll have to at least experience the old style YZ bench ride before they are all gone (but not during CNY :))
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