The 'stall' walls are very short and they have no doors either. A quick Google search will bring up many pics of them.
Does anyone have any experiences with them??
Does anyone have any experiences with them??
Why this there no "Well I have had experiences in those kinds of toilets before. I had actually gone in one to pee and I dropped my pen that I had in my shirt pocket on the floor. When I bent down to pick it up, I looked to my left and all I could see was a bunch of butts and balls >_< Was kind of horrifying. Thank god my pen didn't fall in the actual toilet but it was probably pretty disgusting either way. I did wash it off in the sink with soap though... hopefully that sanitized it a bit. Some of the toilets in rural parts of mainland China don't even have doors or walls. It's like an open area with a line of holes for people to poop in. Those are quite disgusting in my opinion, but maybe some people might find them hot?
Why this there no "" button? Lol
Some of the toilets in rural parts of mainland China don't even have doors or walls. It's like an open area with a line of holes for people to poop in. Those are quite disgusting in my opinion, but maybe some people might find them hot?
The 'stall' walls are very short and they have no doors either. A quick Google search will bring up many pics of them.
Does anyone have any experiences with them??
So does this mean that the Chinese tend to be quite relaxed about nudity in locker rooms as well? What about the Koreans?
I cannot comment on Koreans because I do not know.
When it comes to the Chinese, this much I can say - it depends.
Up to two to three decades ago, not all houses have attached bathrooms/toilets. This is especially true for the old houses, they depended on wells for their water. In those days, not all houses - especially the old ones - have running water.
Taking its capital city as an example, before the Beijing Olympics, there were many "hutongs" (narrow lanes in housing neighbourhoods) with "Sihe Yuan" - courtyard houses. Basically, these are old structures that surrounded a common courtyard. Three sides of the structure were dwellings, with one side being the entrance. Quaint, yes. These were built some 100+ years ago. Often, there is a well in the courtyard where people in the courtyard houses would draw their water for cooking. These places do not have bathrooms and toilets, if you need to relief yourself at night, you either go the the public toilet (gory details described in my post above) or use a potty.
People who live in these places would pay go to a bathhouse periodically to perform their personal ablution. These bathhouses are gender segregated, and eventually became more or less clubhouses, where men would go relax, play chess, chit chat, etc. No dark rooms, no sex, these are not THAT kind of bath houses.
Because they are used to going to these public bathhouses to bath, they are not too hung up over nudity in front of the same gender. Back in 2010, I was in a smaller town and I visited a small bathhouse, but by this time the "club" atmosphere has disappeared but it was still very much open showers for the patrons to use and locker rooms for them to put their clothes. I even had a naked body scrub in front of the other patrons. Yes, the scrubber was naked (with bushy black pubes) and lifted my balls to scrub my taint. Nobody batted an eye.
So those who grew up in this environment do not have hangups about nudity in the locker room or the shower/bath area.
Back to the capital city, as Beijing Olympics approached may of these housing neighbourhoods were flattened and developed with high rise apartments etc. - by these time all the units in these apartments have attached bathrooms and toilets, with running hot water.
(Many Westerners moaned about the loss of these neighbourhoods and history being lost, but the hygiene in these old structures really left much to desire.)
Similarly, the building of the Yangtze Dam resulted in many people being rehoused in apartments with running hot water in the bathrooms and toilets.
People who now live in these new apartments no longer have a need to visit bathhouses which lead to the decline of bathhouses and subsequent demise of this life norm. Younger people who had never been to a bathhouse would not have had the experience of baring their bodies in public. This group of people would have hangups about nudity and exposing their privates.
Sorry for the long post, but as always, the history of the place shaped the mindset of the people and their behaviour.
I hope this anecdotal explanation helps.
Edit - apologies for any grammatical error, I am too lazy to double check my long post for mistakes. I grew up learning British English, hence the spelling.
Wow so the bath house employee lifted your balls to scrub your taint as you put it? Did he seem A BIT uneasy about it at all?
Loved that movie. It was very moving story.I grant this deviates from the title, but if anyone is interested in the Chinese bath house culture, there was a 1999 Chinese film called Shower (Chinese: 洗澡; pinyin: Xǐ zǎo), the story of which was set around a bath house in Beijing.
In China it’s common to go to these clubs and spend the entire day very cheaply. They will clean your clothes, you can eat and chat with friends and just be lazy and relaxed.
That said, I was with Chinese friends who spoke English and served as a guide. I don’t know how easy it is to manage on your own.
In Budapest I went to a hot/mineral springs that is near Monument Square and the zoo. I don’t remember the name. In any event, it’s not easy to navigate if you don’t speak the language. Fortunately my German allowed me more access to the staff. I found no one who spoke English. That said, it was an awesome experience.
I’ve found these same holes in the “ground” situations in rural France and all over Turkey. Bath houses in Turkey are communal and have no sexual component.
In China it’s common to go to these clubs and spend the entire day very cheaply. They will clean your clothes, you can eat and chat with friends and just be lazy and relaxed.
That said, I was with Chinese friends who spoke English and served as a guide. I don’t know how easy it is to manage on your own.
In Budapest I went to a hot/mineral springs that is near Monument Square and the zoo. I don’t remember the name. In any event, it’s not easy to navigate if you don’t speak the language. Fortunately my German allowed me more access to the staff. I found no one who spoke English. That said, it was an awesome experience.
Not at all. In fact it was a very family friendly and oriented place. It was interesting to see groups of young people hanging out in the different rooms and pools and areas and just chatting and having a super time. Not one fucking phone or electronic device to be found!!!Was there anything sexual going on in the Budapest one?
Not at all. In fact it was a very family friendly and oriented place. It was interesting to see groups of young people hanging out in the different rooms and pools and areas and just chatting and having a super time. Not one fucking phone or electronic device to be found!!!...
....There are plenty of gay places in Budapest to cruise and hook up. This place wasn’t one.