Taiwan toilets: The toilet paper problem
When I first started using toilets in Taiwan I couldn’t help but notice the little bin that always next to the toilet bowl.
This oddity was then later explained by Scribbler;
Ha! This is so true! Vietnam is much the same except the bathrooms are even smaller and the toilet plumbing is too small to take toilet paper. Every toilet has a bin next to it for the toilet paper.
For the time being I’ve adopted the ‘head in the sand’ approach and this seems to be working.
Whether the plumbing can handle it or not I have no idea but for me the whole problem with not flushing your toilet paper is the smell. Seriously who wants to walk into a toilet and smell a basket full of used toilet paper?
Then there’s the visual. I mean sure if you’ve got a bin with a lid on then your set (although the wave of smell every time you open the lid is still a knockout), but if you don’t well you’re sitting on the can and right next to you is the visual of masses of chocolate stained paper.
Mind you in most places here the toilet also doubles as a shower/bathroom too.
Worse still is if you’re using a squat toilet then you’re practically breathing in skid mark fumes.
One of the reasons I came to Taiwan was because there was considerably less of a third world standard of living here then other Asian countries. Toilet paper in baskets is pretty close to being a deal breaker. Nothing says ‘too much information’ then being a guest at somebodies house, walking into an immaculately clean bathroom and seeing basket of their used toilet paper.
As I mentioned earlier my approach at this stage is to just flush it. Coincidentally if you ever read about massive plumbing problems affecting Taiwan or the sewerage system grinding to a complete halt… it was probably me.
February 15th, 2010 at 8:49 am Vilmos(Quote)
Don’t give up your hopelessness, there are much worse solutions.
In some Middle Eastern cultures they have NO toilet paper, but have a hose on a water tap. When needed, you have to open the tap and wash your dirty parts with the hose.
To make it more effective, they help the cleaning with their LEFT hand (if I remeber correctly). (No soap, or whatsoever.
Sometimes there is paper for dumb westerners. At hotels & airports there is always paper, and of course normal toilets that you can sit on.
Crazy, that my first comment at this site is just on this entry…
Anyhow, don’t give up yet….
Cheers, Vilmos
February 19th, 2010 at 2:01 pm ozsoapbox(Quote)
I’ve heard of these toilet setups but thankfully Taiwan seems to be crazy on tissues and toilet paper so it won’t be a problem (I hope).
There are tissues readily available for everything here and to be honest it worries me a little. I have no idea where all the trees come from to supply the demand!
The squat toilet here seems to be prevailant in public toilets (I’ve seen them in ‘modern’ places like Taipei’s MRT). I’ve also seen them at bowling alleys, arcades and other entertainment spots so I guess there’s still enough people using them here.
Haven’t seen them in a domestic setup though.
I think the grossest part about using the hose water to clean would be the initial turning on of the tap. Guy before you makes a wrong move or had the wrong thing for dinner last night and you just know that tap handle’s gunna be messy.