No Big Deal

Just an hour ago I was walking around in Nanchang’s 时代广场 (‘Times Square’) enjoying the cool nighttime weather. This shopping area is quite developed and seems to be a big attraction for lots of hip teenagers, young families, and dog owners. As I stood in line at a McDonald’s kiosk, I could hear the surge of life behind me; people hawking their toys on the curbside, boys lighting up their cigarettes, and cars honking. I ordered my 6 RMB ice cream sundae and all was fine. That was, however, until I took one small step back straight into a giant puddle of piss. “Oh, I wish people watched after their dogs,” I grumbled to myself. But no, it was the liquid waste of the little girl behind me waiting in line with her parents (well-dressed parents, I might add). Now I’ve been in China for quite a while and I’ve witnessed the phenomenon of people relieving themselves in public countless times, but is urinating at someone’s ankles while standing in line really ok? Who are these parents?

Oh! I just remembered a story. The first time I came to Nanchang, which was a couple years ago, was to conduct a pilot study on whether or not the plan of my intended Fulbright research was feasible. Well, I’m here now, so I can say that on the whole, my trip was a success. That doesn’t mean, however, that I didn’t experience some China moments. Let me take you to one afternoon when I went to wash my clothes…

I was staying in a hotel that had exorbitant laundry fees, so I brought a few articles of my dirty shirts, socks, and underwear to a neighboring laundromat. The women working there refused to take my underwear because, “there were little bugs inside.” I said there were no bugs, but she continued to doubt me. In angered response, I ripped off the underwear I was wearing, turned it inside out, and shoved it in her face to see, but she still didn’t believe me. (Ok, that didn’t happen). Anyway, I asked whether or not she used some sort of bleach detergent, but her only reply was that Chinese people are really careful about this aspect of their hygiene. Public health was my major after all, so I could at least support the aim of her weird “no undies” regulation. I walked out defeated.


On my way out the door to head back home and wash my underwear in the sink, I decided to stop at KFC for a 老北京 (a very delicious chicken wrap). As I sat reflecting on the truth that life really is more delicious with KFC, I saw a woman changing her baby on the table across from me. The baby then started to pee all over the place. I was sitting right next to the cashier counter, so I called the attention of one of the cashiers to the matter. She in turn grabbed a pile of napkins and scurried over to the scene of the crime. “How cute!” she cried. Then, using her bare hands, she proceeded to soak up the pee, spilling some on the floor and inevitably getting some on her hands as the napkins reached their saturation point. She then went back to handling people’s money. I was having trouble processing the irony of what happened to me in just a 10 minute span of time. Later in the day I shared the story with one of my Chinese friends, but he couldn’t understand my confusion. He told me that even his mother refused to wash his underwear and that baby’s pee was totally clean. Everything made sense to him. I still scratch my head when I think back to that day, as well as my friend’s response, but then again, there must be truth to what the Chinese do and how they do it. How else can you explain that despite the environmental insults one’s body has to deal with here (pollution, food quality, pee and poop and spit and snot everywhere, etc.), one Reuters article claims, “average life expectancy in China will jump 13 years to 85 years…by the middle of the century.” Maybe peeing on other people is no big deal.