User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: No TP

Hi RJ

'I tend to shy away from all things scatological'

You might be interested that I mentioned this TP thing to my wife this evening and she said she had heard of it before. 'Really?' I asked. 'Yes' she says. 'It came up in "Beavis and Butt-head Do America"'.

Hey - did you know that Butt-head wore an AC-DC T-shirt? So it could all possibly be put down to bad Australian influence.

Posted on: No TP

Don't you just love these little discussions? Shanghai_helios - as RJ pointed out I never mentioned stealing, or poverty for that matter. There are a couple of assumptions running through the comments here: (1) that poor people are more likely to steal, and (2) that having 'free' toilet paper increases convenience and is a sign of a higher standard of civilization. ... You can guess that I am now going to disagree with both of these assumptions? ... :)

For 21 years I lived in a neighbourhood that is near the richest on the planet, and I never met a bunch of 'tighter' people - I wouldn't trust any of them not to pinch a few rolls of toilet paper. Well, maybe I would trust a couple. In my travels I have generally observed that honesty correlates better with 'poor' than 'rich' - so there goes that assumption.

Secondly, and for those people who have not travelled much in China, the typical situation is that PUBLIC toilets have little packets of toilet paper for sale. The 'inconvenience' of no free paper is more likely to arise in schools, hospitals, and small private businesses like cafes and restaurants, but seriously, why not carry your own little packet - how hard is that?

The original point I was making was about efficient use of resources - 'free' toilet paper may not be the great idea we think it is.

It is almost exactly ten years to the day since I first came to China (originally on a short holiday) and I do not recall ever being inconvenienced. I kind of like the Chinese system. In the West, everywhere I look there is waste.

This argument extends to other areas such as potable water ...

Posted on: 8 Types of Chinese Cuisine

Thanks for the show David. I recently wrote an article on 川菜 (Sichuan cuisine) for an on-line magazine - see here: http://www.gochengdu.cn/exploring/sichuan-cuisine.

The article includes a quote kindly provided by one John Pasden of ChinesePod!

[I apologise in advance for irregularities in some of the characters and pinyin - yet to be tidied up.]

Posted on: No TP

I'm going to go with Vera, particularly the reason she gave which you don't mention. According to the World Bank, China ranks 94th in terms of GDP, a rough measure of wealth. China is still a poor country and this could explain the absence of 'free' toilet paper. It is not a bad policy - we should consider it in rich countries. People should show a little more responsibility and carry their own paper.

China shows the way in terms of encouraging efficient use of resources. Norway, the richest major economy in the world is a bit of a disgrace in this respect - they are very wasteful people (as a group - I am not picking on individuals.)

Actually the 'too many people' reason is also not a bad response, at least if it was expressed as 'too many people using each facility'. The heavy use of public toilets (or lack of supply of the infrastructure) can also be explained by limited resources.

Posted on: No TP

Hi RJ (sorry I missed this ... been mostly absent lately, in body as well as mind)

'I can count on one hand the number or times I have seen or heard it'

Hmmm - then I guess I should not get too excited about uncovering this new slice of American culture.

'even the first time it did not strike me as any kind of mystery.'

I'm used to people being quicker than me. .. :)

You know RJ, sometimes I imagine us throwing paper planes at each other (never anything more lethal), across the globe.

There are perhaps twenty things that would come to my mind before toilet paper when seeing TP ... tee pee (the tent), third party, transfer pricing, trade practices, ... but you know I hate abbreviations.

Posted on: No TP

Americans go to great lengths to avoid saying the word 'toilet', which I don't understand because it is already a euphemism. So TP must be a euphemism for a euphemism. I have never seen or heard the expression TP before today:; must be well hidden.

Posted on: Which Train Station?

'large train station'

The size is another thing for a foreigner to digest. I recently went through the Chengdu East Railway Station and it has a building mass similar to a major regional shopping centre in Australia. It is an ENORMOUS building. I imagined the brief for the architect. 'One large railway station on the edge of the city. Dimensions: Just make it as large as you think you can get away with, without significantly changing the climate. Be aware of the flightpaths for Chengdu airport.'

Posted on: We're going to miss the plane!

Hi bohan2007 - (i) 'what do we call "carts"(used at the airport) in Chinese?' 行李车 or the more cumbersome 行李小车.. or just 小车 in context. (ii) unless am missing something this refers to changing your boarding pass. Checking in 登记 or just 办什么什么 。。

Posted on: It's Time You Got a Smartphone

I understand your concern, but I see this as more an ad for ChinesePod. Apple has a 'quality' image, we want ChinesePod to be viewed in the same way, put an iPhone there and it is like they are cuddling up together. Apple is a luxury brand in China.

Posted on: American TV Shows in China

'multiple seasons available to be consumed in one big gulp. It's called mainlining.'

So that's what I've been doing. :(

My wife and I started mainlining with Nurse Jackie, watching the entire first season day and night without a break. We've done Boardwalk Empire (and a number of others that are not so flash) and now yes, Game of Thrones is our current drug.