A bizarre toilet sign in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China

This is in the public toilet in the park along the Pearl River in Guangzhou, in the People's Republic of China:

Unfortunately the picture did not come out, but here's a transcription I also made of this priceless bit of public information (the English version is at right, entirely invisible here):

PUBLIC LATRINE APPLIANCE REGULATIONS

• DO NOT DESTROY FACILITIES INSIDE THE LATRINE.
• DO NOT SHIT OR URINATE ANY WHERE.
  [Presumably they meant "everywhere", as this is the latrine, after all]
• DO NOT SHIT INSIDE URINALS.
  [So, is this your first trip to the big city?]
• DO NOT LITTER.
• DO NOT DRAW OR DRAINT ANY WHERE.
  [Presumably they meant "paint"]

So much for the myths of the perfect socialist society, and the progressiveness of the People's Republic of China, when they really have to spell out rules like that.

Rose George's The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters is a fascinating description of sanitation conditions around the world. "2.6 billion people don't have sanitation. [....] Four in ten people have no access to any latrine, toilet, bucket, or box. [....] Poor sanitation, bad hygiene, and unsafe water — usually unsafe because it has fecal particles in it — cause one in ten of the world's illnesses. [....] Diarrhea — nearly 90 percent of which is caused by fecally contaminated food or water — kills a child every fifteen seconds. The number of children who have died from diarrhea in the last decade [1998-2008] exceeds the total number of people killed by armed conflict since the Second World War.

In September 2009, Morna Gregory and Sian James published a book titled Toilets of the World. It's pretty much the same theme that you find here — photographs and commentary on other people's plumbing.

The Porcelain God: A Social History of the Toilet, by Julie Horan, contends that civilization began with the toilet.

Toilet: Public Restrooms and the Politics of Sharing, edited by Laura Noren and Harvey Molotch, has essays by anthropologists, sociologists, and architects on the importance of the toilet, especially for urban dwellers.

Latrinae Et Foricae: Toilets in the Roman World describes the toilets of the Roman Empire from Iberia to Syria, and from North Africa to Hadrian's Wall in Britannia.

Toilets, Bathtubs, Sinks, and Sewers: A History of the Bathroom, explains the history of personal cleanliness and hygiene to children in grades 5-8.

If you're not bored yet, you might be interested in (or at least tolerate):

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