A Canadian In Beijing: Piddly-Squat

by Ember Swift on
I know squats are good for me. They’re assigned in most aerobic workouts and they’re apparently my ticket to a more shapely behind. Still, I had forgotten that I’d be practicing this movement several times a day in China.

In 2001, Lyndell and I spent five days in Hong Kong on a stopover from Sydney to Toronto. That was my first introduction to the “squat-and-pee” style latrines in Asian countries. I didn’t mind them then and I don’t mind them now.

My knees mind them.

I’m hoping that after three months of this activity, I will no longer hear the crunch of my cartilage against bone as I squat to relieve my jasmine-tea-filled bladder.

Urinating in this position is actually healthier for your body than the western toilet. I learned this many years ago and understood squatting to be better for the bladder’s optimal drainage versus sitting which doesn’t enable one’s bladder to fully empty itself. This then puts more strain on the body to relieve itself more regularly, hence keeping this organ working overtime on a perpetual basis. (This company bases its whole product on these findings. Check out this image for a good laugh!)

I must say that they take some getting used to, however. Remembering to bring your own toilet paper is a must and no paper is deposited into the holes but instead is placed in the uncovered wastebasket provided. Sometimes this can be a smelly collection and I’ve found that holding one’s breath is the best solution. All in all, I’m then working my squats AND my lungs. Surely that’s exercise!

My room at the university and most modern hotels and shopping centres also offer western-style toilets. As Beijing continues to grow and accommodate travellers, more and more western-style toilets are available. Still, the toilet paper rule applies. In this way, they are keeping miles and miles of sewers free of foreign material and just filled with organic waste.

Now if Beijing would only start a humanure project! With this massive population, I’m sure the city’s many coal-driven energy systems could be replaced by the methane, combustion or fertilization possible via human waste.

But, I won’t hold my breath for that one!

The Other Great Wall of China

by Iva Skoch on

We had no problem finding internet connections throughout China. Internet cafes, or “net bars” as they’re called, with fairly quick download speeds, were not hard to find. Once connected, however, we did have our share of problems: for example, Hotmail and Yahoo often functioned poorly, and some news sources were blocked (like the NY Times). This was probably due to the so-called Great Firewall of China.

Even though Google and others have bowed to its wishes, the Chinese government wants to make it even harder to get on line. According to the Times of London, the Chinese government has banned any new internet cafes from opening. This is in addition to the 3-hour legal on-line time-limit placed in effect in 2005, it’s in addition to the no-one-under-18-admitted law, and it’s in addition to the requirement that all net bar users register with their ID cards before using the computers.

However, there is hope. About 113,000 recognized net bars exist in the country, and there may be many more illegal ones. Over 128 million new internet users have logged on in China since 2000, bringing the total official on-line population estimate to over 137 million (compared to 207 million in the U.S., making it the world’s second-largest on-line market).

(This site actually let’s you check to see what websites are censored there.)

China to Compete With Boeing and Airbus

by Jonathon Morgan on

By announcing plans to build a plane that can carry more than 150 people, China has officially become a competitor of Boeing and Airbus. The larger jets won’t be finished until 2020 at the earliest, but the China Aviation Industry Corporation has already started building a smaller, regional plane that can carry up to 105 people.

Increased wealth in China has made flying a more viable means of travel for it’s citizens. In light of the air travel boom, the country will need to purchase an estimated 2,230 planes before 2025. Thus, according to the State Council, China’s firms are committed to constructing an “internationally competitive product” that can take a share of the market.

With mass production on the mid-size ARJ-21 regional jet set to begin later this year, it sounds like it won’t be long before you’ll be flying on Chinese-built planes when you travel within the country.

China’s New Coffee Culture

by Willy Volk on

According to Stuart Eunson, managing director of Arabica Coffee Roasters, “In 1994, Beijing taxi drivers didn’t know what coffee was.” Now, 13 years later, tea production has fallen sharply in the country, and China has developed a deep and sophisticated taste for the drink. In fact, the demand for coffee in China is growing at 10% per year — and there’s no end in sight.

While some “credit” the shift from tea to coffee in China to Nestle — which introduced soluble coffee to the country in the 1980s, which was both easy to make and comfortably similar to making tea — other people think it’s a desire by the Chinese to embrace all things Western. For example, one university student claims, “I learned about coffee culture by watching the TV series Friends.” Ugh. Could that BE any sadder?

However, other people think China has grabbed onto coffee culture and made it its own. These people argue that Chinese coffee lovers pay more attention to “presentation” than Westerners — demonstrated by their love for elaborate latte art; their fondness for siphon pots; and their emphasis on a “fresh cup” (as opposed to Westerners’ always-brewing 10-cup behemoths).

In any event, the “take-away message” is that, despite the Chinese backlash against western coffee houses showing up in ancient Chinese locations, if you love your Cuppa Joe, and you’re in China, you’re going to be able to find it.

[Photo: tonx]

Safe Sex In China Just Got Easier

by Jonathon Morgan on

At one point or another, most of us have been in a situation where we really, really wish we’d remembered to bring a condom. Thankfully, at least while in one Chinese province, finding one should no longer be a problem.

What’s made it so easy? Hotels and bars in the country’s eastern province of Zejiang will now be fined $650 if they fail to provide the popular prophylactics.

According to the Beijing News, “Condoms or condom-vending machines must be placed in hotels, bars and designated public places, or the managers will be fined 5,000 yuan ($650).”

This comes at a time when AIDS infections are on the rise in China — with the disease now moving into the general population thanks to poor sex education and a general unwillingness to discuss the matter.