Regarding China's Impropriety

I've been avoiding this topic. For several reasons.

1. Because it disgusts me.

2. Because it is disgusting.

3. Because it grosses me out. 

4. Did I mention it is disgusting?

I mentioned in an earlier post that all of the public restrooms (and really, any restrooms anywhere) smell really bad. To find one, all you have to do is follow the smell. 

After being here for only a short time, I discovered that as gross as the restrooms are, not everyone uses them. Often times, if a child has to go to the bathroom, they just squat. On the ground. In front of everyone. 

Once, when I was on my way home from school, I looked out the window and saw a ten-year-old standing on the sidewalk, peeing onto a tree. His mother was a few feet away from him, texting on her phone. 

This was shocking to me, but then I found out that this is really common. 

In China, babies don't wear diapers. Instead, most baby clothes have a big slit at the crotch so that parents can just hold their child over a trash can, sewer, or the sidewalk in front of a KFC as they relieve themselves.  This practice is not just common for babies, but also toddlers and younger children. 

I wonder what age one has to be for this to no longer be socially acceptable...

It is nasty. 

Last weekend I was walking around a friend's apartment complex. After wandering around for a few minutes, I found a children's play area. 

There were two little girls playing on the play structure, going up and down the slide.
And then it happened.
At exactly the same time, both little girls walked right over to the sewer grate, pulled down their skirts, squatted and went pee. 

In the photo below you can see the evidence of the two girls doing their business. 

See? When they are going down the slide they look so cute and innocent.
They couldn't care less about the fact they are five feet away from puddles of urine. 

A friend of mine posted this link, and it grossed me out so much, that I just had to share. 

To quote my friend, "This is normal here."