Originally Posted by
bocastephen
I’ve never seen the communal trough anywhere in Taiwan including rural areas and parks but Japanese squat toilets are very common, including urban areas - many Taipei MRT stations will have one potty stall reserved for a squat toilet.
Taiwan train station and highway rest stop restrooms are very good about putting a pictogram on the doors of stalls so you know what kind of toilet sits beyond.
Originally Posted by
Skyman65
Unless I'm totally misunderstanding what you're describing, I haven't seen anything like that in Taiwan in 40 years (and I've lived here for 17 of those years). Not denying their existence (obviously, I haven't visited every restroom on the island), but for the purposes of this discussion, the odds of a tourist stumbling across one of these are next to zero.
I have seen them a lot in rural China, though.
You are bringing back memories, some distinctly unpleasant. I last saw one of these in Xinjiang, the smell was so bad that some truck drivers chose to urinate against the outside wall of the building rather than venture inside. And they were collecting one yuan whether you went inside or outside!
Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
Not a communal trough, but a trough inside a stall.
I spend a fair number of weekends in Taiwan and go far off the beaten path any time I can. I have yet to see a trough of any type. Maybe you can find this in a privately owned old factory or workshop but not in a public restroom.