Wow....thats saying that i'm a lier and baiting all of you, which is not true. Just saying to everywhere I've been to in Taiwan, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, their tourist destinations and every other place, they've had proper toilets. And since some of you mentioned bad toilets, I'm like hey, why not learn from mistakes and get better toilets which people won't use and walk away from. Simply put, I'm just saying improving toilets can make life a bit better.
The Olympic Legacy in China
- Thread starter rhino123
- Start date
Autumn Child
Junior Member
Regarding toilets...I can give first hand account on it on daily basis.
The last time I was in beijing a week ago, I did find that they upgraded their public toilet. Tourist destination toilet are rated with start. The five star toilet includes sofa, aircon, marble walls, TV and toilet attedants. However, when I visit one of those toilet, I was dissapointed to see that it still features the squater. Upon closer inspection I was even more surprised that the squater is a "eco squater" that waste no water and naturally decompose waste. Sounds disgusting right? actually its a new innovation. You step on the squatter and a whole will open up. thank god U don't get to see the bottom of it though. I was horrifyed when i see the whole open, but surprisingly there was no smell coming out of it. That was one of the most clean, interesting and at the same time disgusting toilet i have ever been to. Apparently more and more of this toilet will be installed around tourist attraction site. I hate squatters like most people, but i learned that the sitter are actually dirtier to use in China. Most people here will squat on a sitter anyways, dirtying the seats and at the same time create more "splash" from "you know what" falling on the bowl of water. So its perception hygene vs actual hygene.
Having said that i still hope to see more sitter in shanghai public toilet during the upcoming expo. I just can't get over my western lifestyle perception. What I am more concerned with is the "software", the people that are using the toilet. Despite having modern toilets I still see people not closing the cubicle door when they are using it. It got better now but still occasionally see people not closing doors and not flushing after use. Most of these offenders are from poorer region of china where the toilets are still in horrible state. Hopefully they will change and adapt to modern toilet use habit sooner.
The last time I was in beijing a week ago, I did find that they upgraded their public toilet. Tourist destination toilet are rated with start. The five star toilet includes sofa, aircon, marble walls, TV and toilet attedants. However, when I visit one of those toilet, I was dissapointed to see that it still features the squater. Upon closer inspection I was even more surprised that the squater is a "eco squater" that waste no water and naturally decompose waste. Sounds disgusting right? actually its a new innovation. You step on the squatter and a whole will open up. thank god U don't get to see the bottom of it though. I was horrifyed when i see the whole open, but surprisingly there was no smell coming out of it. That was one of the most clean, interesting and at the same time disgusting toilet i have ever been to. Apparently more and more of this toilet will be installed around tourist attraction site. I hate squatters like most people, but i learned that the sitter are actually dirtier to use in China. Most people here will squat on a sitter anyways, dirtying the seats and at the same time create more "splash" from "you know what" falling on the bowl of water. So its perception hygene vs actual hygene.
Having said that i still hope to see more sitter in shanghai public toilet during the upcoming expo. I just can't get over my western lifestyle perception. What I am more concerned with is the "software", the people that are using the toilet. Despite having modern toilets I still see people not closing the cubicle door when they are using it. It got better now but still occasionally see people not closing doors and not flushing after use. Most of these offenders are from poorer region of china where the toilets are still in horrible state. Hopefully they will change and adapt to modern toilet use habit sooner.
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Re: IOC finds no proof of China cheating
The only people "saying" anything are the ones that lost out on the gold. If those people had won the gold, do you really think they would "say" any of this??
The term i believe is 'bad sportsmanship'.
Continuously believing in something that's already been proven wrong deserves no respect.
The only people "saying" anything are the ones that lost out on the gold. If those people had won the gold, do you really think they would "say" any of this??
The term i believe is 'bad sportsmanship'.
Continuously believing in something that's already been proven wrong deserves no respect.
AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
Re: IOC finds no proof of China cheating
I love how people who hide behind freedom are the ones that tell other people what they can think.
I love how people who hide behind freedom are the ones that tell other people what they can think.
On an unrelated note. Here are some fresh ideas that are actually on topic. The OP did not clarify clearly who the legacy is referring to. Naturally, we are talking about the olympic legacy for the chinese people. But we should be clear, because this legacy will be quite different in the eyes of westerners.
Specifically, I personally believe the 2008 Beijing Olympic will NOT be remembered in the west as it will be in China. All the protests and controversies will die down because the general public have a rather short attention span. Remember how all the cool kids were against interventionist foreign policies because of the Iraq War? Well now all the cool kids are FOR interventionists foreign policies because of Dafur.
Same with Tibet too. I really do not think Student for Free Tibet will bring about any changes just because they manage to get some air time on TV. I mean we have to look at it realistically here. The only thing they achieved is damage China's public image, which I think is so deep down the crapper anyway I don't see what the point is - it's like pissing in a ocean of piss.
As for any success the Chinese had over the game, for example the grand opening ceremony, being first in gold metal count, etc etc. In the eyes of the west, these will fall out of attention even sooner. People don't want to hear how China succeeded, they want to hear how China FAIL. This is why newspaper in the West always seem to be so negative about China, it simply sell more paper that way.
I hope I didn't hit any nerves here. I try to have as little politic as possible while still expressing my overall view.
Specifically, I personally believe the 2008 Beijing Olympic will NOT be remembered in the west as it will be in China. All the protests and controversies will die down because the general public have a rather short attention span. Remember how all the cool kids were against interventionist foreign policies because of the Iraq War? Well now all the cool kids are FOR interventionists foreign policies because of Dafur.
Same with Tibet too. I really do not think Student for Free Tibet will bring about any changes just because they manage to get some air time on TV. I mean we have to look at it realistically here. The only thing they achieved is damage China's public image, which I think is so deep down the crapper anyway I don't see what the point is - it's like pissing in a ocean of piss.
As for any success the Chinese had over the game, for example the grand opening ceremony, being first in gold metal count, etc etc. In the eyes of the west, these will fall out of attention even sooner. People don't want to hear how China succeeded, they want to hear how China FAIL. This is why newspaper in the West always seem to be so negative about China, it simply sell more paper that way.
I hope I didn't hit any nerves here. I try to have as little politic as possible while still expressing my overall view.
Anyone who's been to Taiwan would know of the sheer number of squat toilets there, if anything I'd expect places like Shanghai and Beijing to have a higher proportion of standard toilets by comparison, especially with newer construction.
In any event the organizational tasking of the Beijing Olympics was quite impressive, a broader continuous improvement of such would yield more dividends yet.
There's a public park across from my parent's place in Taipei. The public restroom there has both squatting and sitting type toilets, and a little sign on the door indicates the type.
There's a lot of arguments for and against squatting type loo's. It's cleaner and healthier, but not friendly for elderly or handicapped folks. Most public toilets in China are squat type, versus Taipei has mostly sitting type.
My complaints about the typical Chinese toilet design:
1) Squatting type toilet is difficult to use by elderly and handicapped. Most foreign visitors are also unfamiliar with it. For public restrooms in tourist areas, they should feature more sitting type toilets.
2) Many of the toilet stalls are on raised/elevated flooring, which makes it very difficult for handicapped folks to use with their wheelchair. I see elevators being installed at some overpass, but making toilets more easily accessible seems low-priority.
3) The toilet stalls are too small for handicapped folks, and lacks support bar on the side for handicapped and elderly. In the west, at least 1 toilet stall would be extra wide for wheelchair users, and have hand-bars on the side for the elderly.
If you had to take your grandfather to the restroom, you'd understand what I mean. China will have great many elderly folks in the future and public facilities must be upgraded to accommodate their needs.
4) The ventilation system is terrible, even in foreign-owned hyper-marts. In restrooms with a window and fan, most of the fans were not running. So we're good at building things but sucks at maintaining them. It doesn't take a genius to understand the need for good ventilation in the restroom to avoid odor buildup.
Also, if you're worried about people not flushing, you can install toilets with auto flush sensors.
5) Why are we still installing undersized toilet pluming that necessities the user to discard used toilet paper in a waste basket, instead of flushing it down?
6) If you're not providing free toilet paper, fine, but every public restroom should have toilet paper vending machine.
Now, I realize the great expense in upgrading the many public toilets to "western standards", but my point is that in areas with very heavy tourist traffic, you should at least afford upgrading toilets there. I saw the Forbidden Palace and Wangfujing get a face-lift last year, but why is the toilets in the Forbidden Palace still portable potties? There's something wrong with the priorities here when a fresh coat of paint over brick walls is more important than upgrading the loo.
There's a lot of arguments for and against squatting type loo's. It's cleaner and healthier, but not friendly for elderly or handicapped folks. Most public toilets in China are squat type, versus Taipei has mostly sitting type.
My complaints about the typical Chinese toilet design:
1) Squatting type toilet is difficult to use by elderly and handicapped. Most foreign visitors are also unfamiliar with it. For public restrooms in tourist areas, they should feature more sitting type toilets.
2) Many of the toilet stalls are on raised/elevated flooring, which makes it very difficult for handicapped folks to use with their wheelchair. I see elevators being installed at some overpass, but making toilets more easily accessible seems low-priority.
3) The toilet stalls are too small for handicapped folks, and lacks support bar on the side for handicapped and elderly. In the west, at least 1 toilet stall would be extra wide for wheelchair users, and have hand-bars on the side for the elderly.
If you had to take your grandfather to the restroom, you'd understand what I mean. China will have great many elderly folks in the future and public facilities must be upgraded to accommodate their needs.
4) The ventilation system is terrible, even in foreign-owned hyper-marts. In restrooms with a window and fan, most of the fans were not running. So we're good at building things but sucks at maintaining them. It doesn't take a genius to understand the need for good ventilation in the restroom to avoid odor buildup.
Also, if you're worried about people not flushing, you can install toilets with auto flush sensors.
5) Why are we still installing undersized toilet pluming that necessities the user to discard used toilet paper in a waste basket, instead of flushing it down?
6) If you're not providing free toilet paper, fine, but every public restroom should have toilet paper vending machine.
Now, I realize the great expense in upgrading the many public toilets to "western standards", but my point is that in areas with very heavy tourist traffic, you should at least afford upgrading toilets there. I saw the Forbidden Palace and Wangfujing get a face-lift last year, but why is the toilets in the Forbidden Palace still portable potties? There's something wrong with the priorities here when a fresh coat of paint over brick walls is more important than upgrading the loo.
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Mr T
Senior Member
Re: IOC finds no proof of China cheating
That appears to be old news. The latest I heard was that this was going to be .
Player the problem I see is that China completely mishandled the situation. There would have been lingering doubts but the story would have gone away - until the authorities started with the "wrong" ages on. What's even more ridiculous is that the Chinese censors have started cracking down on of the matter.
Why don't these people realise that these sort of actions make them look guilty? Regardless of what the truth is it would have been much better to leave things as they are - deleting or altering data and then being caught on the changes is the worst thing that can possibly happen.
That appears to be old news. The latest I heard was that this was going to be .
Player the problem I see is that China completely mishandled the situation. There would have been lingering doubts but the story would have gone away - until the authorities started with the "wrong" ages on. What's even more ridiculous is that the Chinese censors have started cracking down on of the matter.
Why don't these people realise that these sort of actions make them look guilty? Regardless of what the truth is it would have been much better to leave things as they are - deleting or altering data and then being caught on the changes is the worst thing that can possibly happen.