China's American Standard

American Standard's squatting toilets have been very popular in Hong Kong.They can also be found in Malaysia and Thailand.

However,China has it's own style of American Standard toilets too.They are totally different from those in Hong Kong,Malaysia and Thailand.

The American Standard toilet that you will look at today is from SM Mall,Hu Li District,Xiamen.SM Mall is a relatively new shopping mall in Xiamen.The 2 places that I saw with American Standard toilets are SM Mall and the Carrefour along Xia He Road.



It seems that the malls with large department stores from overseas all use American Standard toilets in China.

This toilet is flushed by pushing down the handle on the pipe.It doesn't sound as powerful as the Hong Kong American Standards.


The shape is a little different from the Hong Kong version.The front part(i.e. the lower part,away from the water) of the toilet protrudes slightly upwards.

The other difference noted is that the brand logo is not located at the top,but facing the front.As shown in the photo above.I will do another post,showing the differences of the toilets.

Meanwhile,enjoy the video clip.

Xiamen's Public Toilet A037,Hou He Lane.

Doesn't this photo look familiar?Yes,it was included in one of the previous posts.If you ask me,I think this toilet doesn't really qualify my standards.But the reason why it is posted here is because of the sound difference.

Let me explain...Now,look at the photo below.Did you see that the design looks like Shidanna and the other new generation toilets?In fact,Fandanna also has a model that looks like this.

But I took a video shot of this toilet because of the flushing sound.The toilet may look like a Shidanna or Fandanna.But it sounds different from those 2.

I stumbled upon this toilet by chance.While I was combing the whole Xia He Road,I saw a WC sign and decided to venture into the small lane.

To my surprise,it's another toilet.I have found Public Toilets A032,A035 and A038.I was very happy to find A037.

This is not a new generation toilet.As you can see,it's dimly lit.But there are worse cases.I personally prefer these to the new generation ones.These older toilets are more uniquely designed.

All the new generation toilets look the same,sound the same.Besides,the new generation toilets have no flushing power.

Before I forget,this toilet's brand is Yuanlin.It's flushed by pushing the button on the pipe.Take a look at the video.Next week,you will be looking at a modern toilet...China's American Standard.Stay tuned.

Xiamen's Public Toilet A025,Off Si Ming Bei Road

Two visits.I made two visits to this toilet.Why?Because I was late on my first visit.That was when I learnt that Xiamen's Public Toilets close at 10:30 p.m.

This toilet is situated in a small narrow alley,off Si Ming Bei Road.It's quite easy to spot because it's visible from the main road.

The toilet attendant is a friendly guy.He was curious why I took photographs of the toilet.I told him that I was from Singapore and I'm a researcher of toilets.I managed to get plenty of toilet information from him.


Let me share some with you...

He told me that this toilet was renovated a few years ago.Before the renovation,there were no toilet bowls.Only the drainage system.

After the renovation,there was an increase in the number of cubicles.The setback is that the toilet is still dimly lit.

Then I came to realise that the toilet attendants of Xiamen have no fixed salary.The government don't pay them anything.They are expected to make money when visitors do "big business" and buy toilet paper from them.

The public toilet system of Xiamen is as follows...If you are peeing only,you don't have to pay.If you do "big business",you can pay 30 cents RMB for a few pieces of toilet roll.If you pay $1 RMB,you get a packet of facial tissue.

The blue board on the photo above shows this.It's not really visible.


These toilet attendants can only rely on selling toilet paper or packets of tissue for the daily income.Which is really tough.Most people go in and pee only.


I complimented this attendant on the cleanliness of his toilet.There was no stench when I visited it.

Now you'll learn about the brand name and the flushing system of this toilet.

The brand is "XINGWU" and it's flushed by the tap system.The design looks interesting to me.So far in Xiamen,I've only came across 2 toilets with "XINWU".One is this one.The other one is Public Toilet A024.

However,Public Toilet A024 is flushed by pushing the button on the pipe.I didn't bother shooting that one because the toilet was dimly lit.


Comparing their flushing sound,this toilet sounds better than Public Toilet A024.

Conclusion:The flushing system plays an important role in the flushing sound.2 identical toilets can sound different due to the flushing system.

Now,it's video time again...Enjoy.

Tea Leaves VS Toilets.How Are They Related?

You must be wondering...how are tea leaves related to toilets?Relax.By the time you finish reading every single word on this post,you will be enlightened.

The place you see here is Tian Fu Tea Group's Headquarters at Zhan Pu,Fu Jian,China.It's actually a rest area for motorists travelling along the highway that connects Xiamen and Zhan Pu.

The founder of Tian Fu Tea Group,Mr Li Rui He came from very humble beginnings.He was born and raised in Taiwan.He started off riding his bicycle around Tai Nan selling tea leaves.Every thing went on very well until sometime in 1989...

Mr Li's friends asked him to joint venture and set up a stock brokerage.Things looked fine until 1990,suddenly the stock market crashed.He was turned from a rich man to a pauper.What made me admire this man is that he refused to run away from his debtors.

He faced every one of them and paid back every single cent he owned.Some of his friends urged him to run away and hide in the States.But Mr Li refused.He vowed to pay back everything he owed and sold his big house.

By doing that,he gained the respect of his peers and debtors.His reputation was very good.

In 1991,he decided to make a comeback.He went to China and found it a land of opportunities.Zhan Pu was his homeland.He planned to set up business there.

2 years later,Mr Li discovered a plot of land which is big enough for his dream.

The dream was to set up a Tea Facility,with Factories,a Tea Museum,a Tea University as well as a tourist hot spot.To cut a long story short,he was made the "Tea King of the World".

What you see in the photos above are just a tiny bit of the whole Tea Facility.

Now let's come to the toilet part.The reason why Mr Li wanted to build a rest area for vehicles travelling along the highway was...

Many years ago,while he was travelling along a highway in Taiwan,he had difficulty trying to find a toilet to relieve himself.

Besides providing convienence to road commuters,this rest area also became a tourist hot spot.You can stop your vehicle and go to the tea house.They will provide you with hot tea for free.

There are many snacks,tea leaves and tea sets on sale.Many tourists end up with huge shopping bags of snacks and tea leaves.

The founder,Mr Li knew that the toilets in China suffered a bad reputation.It's well-known that you don't have to ask for directions to the toilet in China.You just need to smell them out.You can smell them from a distance away.

He wanted to change this perception.The staff of Tian Fu were made to clean the toilets regularly.But before that,the founder himself would clean the toilet to set an example.He would also check the toilets regularly and clean them if no staff was around.



This explains why the toilets are so clean.Now I'll come to the interesting part...There was one night,the founder invited his friends and peers to a dinner.But he told them that the dinner will be held in the toilet.

Some of them were shocked to hear that.Who will ever have dinner in a toilet?Many of them didn't turn up.Those who turned up were pleasantly surprised that there was no stench in the toilet.

Mr Li did this to prove that there are still clean toilets in China.

I was pretty surprised to read about Mr Li holding a dinner in the toilet.I would love to be his guest.Especially since this is one of my favourite toilets.Hahaha one day I will also hold a dinner in a toilet.It's going to be fun!

OK,I'm going to talk about the technical part of this toilet.This toilet was built in 1993.The toilets of that period all have the hood in front.Like what you saw from the previous 2 posts.All their shapes look alike,but their brands are different.

The brand of this toilet is "Khong Yuan".It's also flushed by the push-button on the pipe.I like the design of this toilet,but not the flushing sound.

It doesn't sound as good as Public Toilet A013(see previous post).

I did a video on this one.Initially planned to flush every single cubicle,like the Jubilee Street Public Toilet,Hong Kong.But sadly,the 3rd cubicle was occupied and there were people coming into the toilet.

What you see on the following video is only on the 2 open cubicles you see on the 3rd photo above.Enjoy the video.More will be coming soon.

One last thing before you see the video...I'm sad to say that the squatting Globe Brand that I promised to shoot in one of the previous posts has been changed.I'm trying to search for a replacement.

Hopefully I can find one that's fully functioning.One lesson learnt...toilets don't wait for you.Shoot and video while you can.Don't wait till it's renovated or changed then you start to regret.

Xiamen's Public Toilet A013,Off Zhong Shan Road Walking Street

Welcome to another toilet blog post.In this post,you'll be looking at Public Toilet A013.This toilet is situated in a small alley off Zhong Shan Road Walking Street.

Zhong Shan Road is divided into 2 parts.The first part is for vehicles.The second part is ONLY for pedestrians.That's why it called "Bu Xing Jie" or walking street(direct translation).

Look at the photo below and you'll know what I mean.

Public Toilet A013 is situated at the beginning of the walking street.(The end of the street is facing the sea).At the beginning of the street,you'll see the sign in the photo below.Walk along the small alley and you'll see the toilet on your right.

I would say that this is probably my second favourite toilet in Xiamen.The design is interesting and I like the flushing sound.Although it's flushed by pushing the button on the pipe,the sound is good.

I included 2 photos to show the design.As you can see from above,there's a little cap at the front part of the toilet.This design is copied from Japan's TOTO.

Many years ago,I believe it was in 1991,I came across the squatting TOTO in Genting Highlands,Malaysia.The design looks similar.But I can't recall what was the flushing sound like.It was too long ago.

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Another thing I realised is that there are many brands of toilets with this design in China.What you saw in the "Xiang Jiang Shopping Mall" post is of a different brand.This toilet is manufactured by "Xin Wa".

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So far I've discovered that "Xin Wa" has 2 models.One is this and the other is at Public Toilet A016.I will post it in sometime in the future.

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Back to this design of toilets...I've done some research and found out that this design of toilets belong to the early 1990s.Many manufacturers seem to be using the same design,with their indiviual logos.

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Now it's time for the video...enjoy.

Ever Heard Of A Toilet That Sounds THIS HORRIBLE?

As a toilet lover,this is the FIRST time I'm complaining about a toilet.You probably can guess...this toilet must be really terrible to receive a complaint from me.But seriously,it really deserves a complaint.

OK,let's be fair,why don't you judge for yourself and see if it's really that horrible...

Some background of this toilet...

It's located in this eating house that sells Ginger Duck,along Lian Hua Bei Road,Xiamen.

The brand is "Fandanna",a common brand found in China.

I have came across many "Fandannas",but this one really sounds terrible.It's flushed by pushing the button on the pipe leading to the toilet bowl.

I'm not a fan of "Fandanna".The design is too common and the flushing sound is pretty normal.However,this toilet caught my attention because of it's horrible flushing sound.

PRESENTING...

The Most Horrible Sounding Toilet

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.