Love it or hate it, traveling China can be a very interesting and sometimes very frustrating experience. During a torturous 8hour local bus journey from Shangri-La to Dequin in Western China, at least half of the passengers chain-smoked away in the enclosed busses, gassing you half to death; ironically this occurs under the signs affixed to the ceilings that state "Smoking Prohibited in Any Part of This Bus At All Times".
For the Western traveler, even those accustomed to traveling out-of-the-way and non-modern places of the world, China can seem very dirty. Roadside toilet stops can cripple you. Some of the finest examples of crummy toilets are to be found along these bus routes. Imagine being able to smell the urinal/bog from a distance of 50 meters away, these scents burning your nostrils and eyes from afar. Entering the menacing ablution block reveals a slanted concrete floor in a square room, some Chinese squat alongside the wall (in the open view of all) while others pick a corner or wall and do their business, splashing on those squatting due to the wall less interiors. All the 'business' gets funneled to the lower sloping area of this concrete room and through a drainhole which is expelled out into the river below. At one stop we were blessed with a long drop scenario where a train of white maggots crawled up the long drop walls. A new game of 'hose the maggots' began and after wretching a coupe times and puking in my mouth it was, sadly, time to exit this palace. To make this all worse many of the ablution blocks we were so lucky to have visited happened to charge a 5rmb (ZAR5.50) 'toll' or 'usage fee' - FOR WHAT I ASK? The mindless toll lady/man could pocket over 100rmb (ZAR110) for every bus that passed through their scented establishment. It is clear that not a cent goes towards to upkeep of their pride and joy block.
This is clearly why China has earned its reputation as the king of health hazards. Their lack of poor personal hygiene is very evident as one travels far further and further away from the large (in Chinese standards ie, less that 5 million people) cities. The contrast truly fascinates me as you'd go for even a simple haircut and the hair washer lady would wear gloves and a face mask and wash his/her hands before and after washing your hair. Thereafter you know, at some stage, they will be off to the toilet and find the dirtiness and filthy conditions a normality and be completely happy with that as they are so accustomed to it.
I think this lack of hygiene story starts at a very young age where all children come featured with 'crotchless pants' as standard. They do their business whenever and wherever they need to. Ie, NO NAPPIES.
Need a poo son? The sidewalk is a tremendous place, i've heard wonderful things.'
On one of these local busses we witnessed a Chinese mother hold her child over one of the many bins in the isles (spitting bins) while the little critter squeezed one out. At the next stop we hoped, PRAYED rather, that mommy would disgard of this fowl smelling bin business that little Johnny had left us. No a chance. We had to endure the rotting smell in the 30+ degree heat that the bus offered for the remainder of the journey.
During another memorable trip through the glorious countryside on route to Laos, we caught a 17 hour night sleeper bus. This bus was fairly empty, thankfully, but shortly after it got dark the wheels started to fall off. A baby managed to puke all over her unsuspecting father which created a rather 'unpleasant' odor for the rest of the bus to endure. At just about the same time we came to a halt in the road, the only single lane carriageway to Laos, as an overloaded truck had become stuck, blocking all traffic along the road. For two hours we were left there to stare at the truck waiting for some action to take place. Finally the truck was simply driven out from its position - ie, complete waste of time a he could have driven it out 2 hours earlier!! By now it was nightfall and clearly the two bus drivers were hungry because we stopped at a roadside stall in the middle of nowhere. Everybody out (we gathered - not fluent in Mandarin.....). An hour down the line we were still at this roadside 'eatery'. 2 hours later, still there. After a painful 8 hours the bus started up and we were on our way! 7 hours waiting for the drivers to sober up from the numerous beers they consumed with their dinner at this eatery. They don't speak English, I don't speak Mandarin, how do you converse to ask what why when etc? Frustrated? OH YES! Who do you complain to? The people you complain to don't understand a word anyway.... So our 17hr trip turned out to be a 25hour MARATHON of a journey. This also allowed us to miss the connecting bus to the Laos border crossing, forcing us to stay another night on Chinese soil which we now loathed! Patience is the name of the game here. China may be advancing but their mindsets and attitudes remain deep in the gutter.
