Toilets of the World 5.3: Orientation

More confusion and difficulties arise when trying to position oneself in relation to the toilet. At first, one is even in doubt as to which way to face. One would usually assume that keeping your back to the wall is a universal principle, but the Chinese do seem to have their own way of doing everything, and since one of my first experiences of squatting was above a ‘transverse’ (at right angles to the door) toilet, I was thrown into deep confusion.

If the back-against-the-wall principle does hold true (and surely in the more ‘open plan’ conveniences it must), then there seems to be no consistency as to whether, to appropriate the euphemism of ‘dropping the kids off at the pool’, one should do so in the shallow end or the deep end. Taking the most direct route to the u-bend seems most sensible for an Englishman, but perhaps the Chinese prefer to present their excretions for inspection, even admiration, as certain Continental Europeans do with the 'shelf'. While a ceramic landing avoids splash-back, the shallowness of the trough presents a much more sinister danger when depositing a large load.