These photos pretty much speak for themselves. This is the trend with babies and toddlers around here. I’d say 90% or more of the kids Americans would put in diapers either wear pants or one-sies with the bottoms tailored out of them or just a t-shirt. I can’t say that it’s not practical, though I wouldn’t want to be the parent who gets soiled because of it. These kids pretty much squat and go anywhere. The parents typically clean it up afterwards. I even saw one father holding his child in a squatting position over a garbage can at a shopping mall. This method must be easier than constantly having to change diapers or trying to get them to use the public toilets that consist of a big porcelain hole in ground with spots on either side to position your feet. I guess it’s either hundreds of millions of plastic diapers in landfills all over China or this—takes “going green” to a whole new level!

While we’re on this topic which is so fundamental to the experience of being human (or animal for that matter), I recall a friend of mine from the UK reacting with surprise that there were 1/2 inch gaps between the walls of the stalls in American public restrooms. He would be even more surprised to discover many public restrooms here in which the squatter toilet stalls have no doors at all, those at the big park here in Handan for example. I find the different, commonly accepted expectations of privacy in different places around the world quite fascinating.