My Favourite Toilet In Xiamen

After staying in Xiamen for 10 days,I finally found my favourite toilet.For the past 9 days,I was quite disappointed with the toilets.All of them seemed to be similar.Each brand seems to be copying the other.

If you don't understand what I'm saying,that's ok.You probably will after reading the series on China toilets.

Now let me start...Introducing my favourite toilet of Xiamen...

This toilet is located at Xiang Jiang Shopping Arcade,as you can see the stone tablet below.This building is built in 1993.



I came to realise that the type of toilets that I like in China all seem to come from the 1990s era.Especially the early and mid 1990s.

Why do I particularly like this type of toilets?I'll say that it's due to the unique identity it gives to China's toilets.It's something you can only find in China and not other places.The new generation of toilets seem to be everywhere.You can find them in Hong Kong,and similar types in Malaysia as well.

Why do I like this particular toilet?This is pretty straightforward.Because it's flushed by pulling the string from the cistern.It's my favourite type of flushing system.When flushing this type of toilet,you can always hear 3 different phases of the flush,which are the starting,climax and the end.

Let me direct your attention to the photo below...can you see the outer part of the toilet protruding upwards?This is a unique feature of toilets in China.If I'm not wrong,Japan and Taiwan also has this type of toilet.However,their flushing system and brands are different.

To illustrate,I'll use 2 examples...1. it's like Victory in Hong Kong.You can never find that model of Victory anywhere else in the world.2.It's like Johore Pipe Co. in Malaysia.You'll never be able to find that model of Johore Pipe Co. anywhere else in the world.

I noticed something interesting about the flushing cisterns of China...You don't have to exert a lot of force.Just a gentle tug and the toilet will flush.Not only that,the pressure is very great.My feet nearly got splashed when flushing this toilet.
However,the flushing time is very short.Only 4 seconds for a full flush.Unlike those of Singapore and Hong Kong.

Based on what I've seen,there are more than one brand with this type of toilet.What you see here is "Tang Tao".There's also "Sin Wa"(Public Toilet A013) , "Tang Shan S.P."(Xiamen Ferry Terminal) and "Khong Yuan" (Tian Fu Tea Rest Area,Zhan Pu).

All of them look alike but sound different.I will feature them one by one here.If you are impatient,you can go to www.youtube.com to listen to the sound difference.

Among all of them,my personal opinion is that this one sounds the best.I've done a video shoot on this toilet.In fact,I have done 2 video shoots.One of them is an NG.I had to reshoot again.

Let me explain why...Before my first shoot,I went to test flush the toilet to see if it sounded good.I had to decide whether to change cubicle.But I made a mistake.I didn't give it enough time to recover from the previous flush.i.e. I did not give enough time for the cistern to refill itself to full tank.

I flushed it too soon.As a result,from the first video,you can hear the full flushing sound.It's only a half flush,with very little pressure.I tried to pull again,but it didn't help.

Here's the first video...it's shot at Level 5 toilet.



Not only the flushing sound is sucky,there's also a lot of background noise.Apparently the toilet was suddenly crowded when I was doing the shoot.

Now for the second video...TAKE 2!!

This is shot at Level 3's toilet.Enjoy.



You can probably hear the difference.The sound is much clearer and you can hear the full flush.This bring me to the end of today's post.Hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did.