More on Chinese Toilets

Marie Cope suggested I offer some clarification on the structure of Chinese toilets. At the risk of telling you more about this subject than you ever wanted to know, here goes: The plumbing of a Chinese toilet is quite conventional. The toilet fills with water and flushes like a Western toilet. The difference is the position of the bowl. A Chinese toilet is actually an indentation in the bathroom floor. Its use requires that you to do a deep knee bend and squat, a difficult maneuver unless you've grown up with this contraption. Fortunately, there's a Western toilet in my hotel room, and we have both Chinese and Western style toilets at the office.