OMF Blog
Health and Hygiene
- Thursday 31 January 2008Toilets
Bear in mind that traditional Chinese consider Western toilets very dirty. Until very recently they would never consider sitting bare-bottomed on a seat that someone else has sat on bare-bottomed. For this reason in many mid-standard hotels where there are Western toilets, you will find the seat broken off, or very dirty, because they prefer to stand on the seat and squat. But a surprising number of Chinese family apartments now have Western toilets, which they think are more convenient, or more hygienic, or fashionable.
Modern cities have greatly improved in this matter in the last 10 years. Perhaps the Beijing International Toilet Symposium in 2004 made a difference! Clean, tiled public toilets are found in every park and main street, with washing facilities. Put 2 mao on the table. They will give change for 1 yuan. But many public toilets are free, and the attendant is just selling tissues. The parks often have taps in the open air, and you can see middle-class families washing fruit they have bought, and their children’s hands. Outside is considered ‘dirty’ – with good reason. It is recommended always to wash your hands on returning home.
Domestic plumbing works on 2.5-inch waste pipes. Putting paper down the loo blocks the system, so bins are provided for the soiled paper.
Wiping
Middle-class ladies delicately wipe the chopsticks provided in a restaurant with a tissue, and in buses they carefully inspect the seat before sitting down, maybe whipping out a tissue to wipe it first. Most people carry a small packet of tissues. They are considered more hygienic than a hanky for blowing the nose – you throw the tissue and contents away. Logical really.
Water
Tap water should never be drunk, unless you are training your constitution for great trials. Boiled or bottled water should be used. The same is true when you are brushing your teeth. However, for cleaning the outside of your body, tap water is perfectly acceptable.
Fruit and vegetables should be considered unclean to the Western stomach. The rule of thumb is, peel it, wash it, cook it or forget it. When you see fruit being sold on the streets sat in jars of water, it may look delicious, but we recommend that you don’t eat it.
Go by science and local experience, not the health fads in the papers at home that create worry. There is no need to pass round antibacterial sprays before meals – you eat with chopsticks not your fingers. Don’t keep your toothbrush in a damp bathroom, and certainly not in the same room as a WC. You wouldn’t keep your chopsticks there, would you? In many cities healthy expat residents use the bottled water for drinking, but tap water for washing fruit, washing up and cleaning teeth – ask someone about your city. Apply antibacterial cream to even the smallest cut or spot.