automatic flushing squat toilets?
greetings!
sorry i havent been so good with keeping in touch...the internet has many problems as of late. now on to the goodies.
for those of you who dont know, china has a large variety of toilets. most typical, however, is the "squat toilet". this type of toilet can be found in public restrooms, restaurant, homes, airports, etc. here is a picture of a squat toilet. i will not explain the method of use. :) anyways. lately i have encountered something quite fascinating. in the states, most people view squat toilets as a rather "backwards" or undeveloped/non-modern. however, some counter this opinion with the argument of cleanliness...saying that squat toilets are more clean than the toilets we have to sit on. either way. to my surprise i lately encountered AUTOMATIC FLUSHING squat toilets! there goes the argument that squat toilets are non-modern...i thought my school was the only place i would see them...but no...i found them at the great wall as well.
class has been going very well...hard and time consuming...but its all good. my chinese has definitely gotten better since i got here. chinese cab drivers are the best people to have conversations with. first of all, the beijing cab drivers generally are all purely beijingnese. they have rough, thick accents and talk with so many people every day that they have interesting opinions on most topics. as i left my old host families house on friday after the first time of seeing them in 4 years, i got into a cab and began a great conversation over the duration of the 25 minute cab ride back to my school. here are some of the things we talked about: China just opened a brand new railway that takes you from Beijing to Lhasa. This is big news...but some people (like my host sister and cab driver) say that now is the time to go. the tickets are 800 Kuai (about 100 USD) and they are sold out for 3 months. after such a large influx of han chinese going to tibet, the culture is bound to change. too bad the tickets are sold out for so long...otherwise i would be there! We also discussed chinese history. after i successfully names at least 5 chinese emperors and they dynasty he was quite impressed. we then discussed how bad his cold was, why he was spitting into a can, and bejings pollution problem. anyways, he was quite sweet and thanked me for taking his cab which allowed us to chat.
last but not least...i am deciding where i want to go on vacation. i have three weeks after this semester and i have a couple of options. i need some help deciding because i truly cannot decide!
1. Option 1: the silk road
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/silkroad/index.htm
this option starts with a 60 hour train ride to urumqi, Xinjiang (the Uighur muslim autonomous region in China)
we would then to go Kashgar, Turpan, Dunhuang, and Hami either way, the culture there is fascinating! check out the link for more info.
2. Option 2: Inner mongolia, yurts, and genghis khans mausoleum
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/inner_mongolia/
this option would take us all around inner mongolia: grasslands, hotels with yurts (mongolian style houses), and even to the supposed ashes of genghis khan. we would also probably hop on over to Harbin, Helongjiang China which is the coldest place ever...its bordering siberia. check the link for more info.
If you email me from now on i will respond. i have been having problems with the internet and therefore i havent been able to respond.
looking forward to hearing from everyone!
-Liu Xi-
sorry i havent been so good with keeping in touch...the internet has many problems as of late. now on to the goodies.
for those of you who dont know, china has a large variety of toilets. most typical, however, is the "squat toilet". this type of toilet can be found in public restrooms, restaurant, homes, airports, etc. here is a picture of a squat toilet. i will not explain the method of use. :) anyways. lately i have encountered something quite fascinating. in the states, most people view squat toilets as a rather "backwards" or undeveloped/non-modern. however, some counter this opinion with the argument of cleanliness...saying that squat toilets are more clean than the toilets we have to sit on. either way. to my surprise i lately encountered AUTOMATIC FLUSHING squat toilets! there goes the argument that squat toilets are non-modern...i thought my school was the only place i would see them...but no...i found them at the great wall as well.
class has been going very well...hard and time consuming...but its all good. my chinese has definitely gotten better since i got here. chinese cab drivers are the best people to have conversations with. first of all, the beijing cab drivers generally are all purely beijingnese. they have rough, thick accents and talk with so many people every day that they have interesting opinions on most topics. as i left my old host families house on friday after the first time of seeing them in 4 years, i got into a cab and began a great conversation over the duration of the 25 minute cab ride back to my school. here are some of the things we talked about: China just opened a brand new railway that takes you from Beijing to Lhasa. This is big news...but some people (like my host sister and cab driver) say that now is the time to go. the tickets are 800 Kuai (about 100 USD) and they are sold out for 3 months. after such a large influx of han chinese going to tibet, the culture is bound to change. too bad the tickets are sold out for so long...otherwise i would be there! We also discussed chinese history. after i successfully names at least 5 chinese emperors and they dynasty he was quite impressed. we then discussed how bad his cold was, why he was spitting into a can, and bejings pollution problem. anyways, he was quite sweet and thanked me for taking his cab which allowed us to chat.
last but not least...i am deciding where i want to go on vacation. i have three weeks after this semester and i have a couple of options. i need some help deciding because i truly cannot decide!
1. Option 1: the silk road
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/silkroad/index.htm
this option starts with a 60 hour train ride to urumqi, Xinjiang (the Uighur muslim autonomous region in China)
we would then to go Kashgar, Turpan, Dunhuang, and Hami either way, the culture there is fascinating! check out the link for more info.
2. Option 2: Inner mongolia, yurts, and genghis khans mausoleum
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/inner_mongolia/
this option would take us all around inner mongolia: grasslands, hotels with yurts (mongolian style houses), and even to the supposed ashes of genghis khan. we would also probably hop on over to Harbin, Helongjiang China which is the coldest place ever...its bordering siberia. check the link for more info.
If you email me from now on i will respond. i have been having problems with the internet and therefore i havent been able to respond.
looking forward to hearing from everyone!
-Liu Xi-