Kindasortarelevant
I recently came back from teaching English in a somewhat impoverished region in China. My flatmate was Australian and absolutely brilliant, I have no complaints about her and was incredibly lucky to have her around. This story concerns the place in which we lived.

Our flat was actually pretty snazzy by local standards, but backward by ours. The "kitchen" consisted of a big sink with a hole in the bottom which leaked all the used water out onto the roof, and a camping stove that often broke and had a rat hiding underneath it when it wasn't in use.

Our most splendid feature was the loo, which was actually at the end of the kitchen - mmm, hygienic! (Photo here: photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v319/38/69/540590528/n540590528_4195723_5979.jpg) As you can see, was no door. Tuneful calls of "I'm having a poo, don't come near the kitchen!" rang throughout our little household for many weeks.

It also blocked intermittently, and would not accept toilet paper, tampons or particularly large craps. The first time it blocked, we rang for a plumber. Unfortunately, there were no plumbers in the area, and the toilet remained blocked - and full to the brim with our leavings - for several days. Eventually, a random man came into our house, grabbed our mop, stuck it down the toilet and wiggled it around a bit (thus covering it in our mixed faeces) and left a puddle of pooflakes and piss all over the floor for us to clear up. Shortly after this incident, we purchased a plunger, which was put to good use on many, many occasions.

We were given a door one day, much to our jubilation. But this was cut short when we realised the hard way that you aren't allowed to close the door from the outside. We had to walk for fifteen minutes to use a public toilet (i.e. a trough in a shed) for about a week and a half while it was jammed shut.

When you have diarrhoea for about two consecutive weeks, this isn't particularly fun.
(Miss Teapot, Sun 1 Mar 2009, 0:24, 6 replies)

and well...
No wonder they laugh - when out and about did you grow up with zero common sense? A blocked loo for several days, what did you think it was? A jammed door, did you expect a janitor?

It beggars belief you were allowed to travel with out 14 layers of cotton wool.

Sheesh kebab.
(feedingtimeatthezoo day 1 of his bikini diet started, Sun 1 Mar 2009, 1:09, closed)

unnecessarily snarky.
Give the poor girl a break: I don't know what difficulties are involved in getting a properly stuck door unstuck in rural China.

And she went and invested in a plunger.
(HaHa!Snakes! was last seen on, Sun 1 Mar 2009, 14:26, closed)

A
Puddle of Pooflakes?

Dear God, that man gets about - I'll give him that...
( MatJ LOOK, Sun 1 Mar 2009, 1:54, closed)

^HaHa!
Funnier if punctuated thus:

'A puddle of Pooflake's'

Begs a question, doesn't it?
(HaHa!Snakes! was last seen on, Sun 1 Mar 2009, 14:16, closed)

can't have been that bad a place really
they fitted it with a western toilet for fucks sake. they shoulda warned you though that western style toilets in China function like crap (ha no pun intended) and that toilet paper def goes in a bin rather than the loo until its flush capacity is proven.

ah the old communal troughs. ive never had to use them, when ive had the squits out here (been here 6 months on this trip, my second time in China) ive somehow managed to find a place with at least single cubicles (even if their squat toilets do stink to high heaven) - i hope to god when the Chinese economy takes over everyone they don't bring their filthy shitters with them. yuk.
(zenmeban thinks the weather could be better, Sun 1 Mar 2009, 3:00, closed)

FYI
You are not supposed to flush tampons down the loo in any country (see also:condoms,cotton buds,sanitary towels).

Toilet paper is designed to disintegrate in water; these other items are not and therefore may not only block your toilet (surprise surprise!) but also cause problems further downstream.

Sewage plants are not able to handle these non-biodegradable items, which means they often block the system and have to be removed at great cost.

Additionally, many condoms, tampons etc end up passing into rivers and the sea, which is obviously not only disgusting to see but also presents significant environmental and health hazards.

See here: www.sas.org.uk/pr/2008/cotton-buds-1.php

Sorry to rant but people really need to think twice about what they are flushing down the toilet!
(Spundlemoon, Sun 1 Mar 2009, 10:40, closed)