{"id":18034,"date":"2014-05-22T00:05:23","date_gmt":"2014-05-22T07:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/barbarafalconernewhall.com\/?p=18034"},"modified":"2014-05-22T00:05:23","modified_gmt":"2014-05-22T07:05:23","slug":"travel-adventures-the-poop-on-china-and-the-pee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/server.stagingweb3.net\/barbarafalconernewhall\/travel-adventures-the-poop-on-china-and-the-pee\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel Adventures: The Poop on China \u2013 And the Pee"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"the<\/a>
The poop on China: Spotted outside a Shanghai airport lavatory — accommodating the Western toileting style. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Barbara Falconer Newhall<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been contemplating writing this little photo essay on the toilets \u2013 public and really<\/em> public — of China ever since Jon and I traveled there last September. My mid-century Midwestern upbringing was getting in the way — nice people don\u2019t talk about poop and pee in public. Or in private, for that matter.<\/p>\n

My nose for news finally prevailed over my Midwestern need to be nice, however, when a Mainland Chinese couple allowed their toddler to urinate publicly<\/a> on the streets of Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>
In Suchow, this little boy was set out on the doorstep of his house to relieve himself, To expedite things, his pants were open. I preserved his dignity by retouching the photo to close up his fly. Photo by BF Newhall<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A fracas ensued, with Hong Kong natives videotaping what they considered a violation of civilized Hong Kong norms. Babies and toddlers are free to pee in the streets on the mainland, apparently, but not in the former British colony of Hong Kong<\/p>\n

Mainland China is a land \u2013 a really big one \u2013 of extremes. Subarctic temperatures in the north, and muggy tropical weather to the south. Farm villages still parked in the 19th<\/sup> century in the countryside, and brand-new, dizzyingly high skyscrapers in the cities and suburbs.<\/p>\n

The Poop on China<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The same goes for the toileting customs of China; they run the gamut of extremes, from the quaintly pre-modern to the mind-bogglingly futuristic, including:<\/p>\n