by Russell Smeaton

Created on: April 06, 2009

What I wanted to know when I left for China was about using the toilets. I'd heard a lot of horror stories about the shared squats and I have to say I was worried! Now, just to put you in the picture, I suffer from IBS. This means that I often get caught short when out and about. There's nothing worse than being in the middle of nowhere and needing to go so badly it feels like your insides are about to split (sorry to be so graphic but that's what it feels like). So this article is basically how to survive the toilet situation in China.

First off, McDonalds and KFC have good clean toilets. They also have paper - very handy. You might not approve of either of these corporations, but you can count on their toilets. You can also get away with not eating there if you don't want to. Just walk in and find the signs for the toilet. The signs are either in English or have a nice clear picture - you can't go wrong. Someone will probably ask you if they can help - just move onwards to the toilet and they'll get the picture.

No McDonalds? No KFC? Another option is to search out the bigger hotels. The trouble with these are the toilets are not always obvious to find and you end up looking a bit hopeless in the voyer. Still, Chinese people are generally very helpful and big hotels usually have people who speak good English. Most hotels that I've tried have helped. There's only been a few times when I've been (politely) told that the toilets are for guests only.

Right, those are the easiest options. If you can't find any hotels or Mickey Dee's then you are going to have to brave the chinese public toilet. The first thing you'll need is your own paper. Almost no public toilets come with this so it's a good idea to buy some and keep it with you at all times. You can buy handy little packets of tissue paper almost anywhere. Sometimes it's scented so if you have allergies be careful! A friend of mine used some tissue to blow his nose - he couldn't stop sneezing for ages afterwards. The next thing is to find a toilet. The toilets themselves tend to be pretty smelly so you should have no trouble locating one. There are usually loads of toilets around so it's not often that you'll not be able to find anything. Third, you might have to pay for the pleasure of taking a crap with a load of other people. This varies and there are no rules. It's usually not a lot - if anything and there's often a big sign to help you out. Keep a few coins with you as they won't have any change.

Okay! You've

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