Don’t ask for a bathroom or a restroom in China because you may get some funny looks.  But ask for a toilet and everyone knows what you are talking about; and so begins the great toilet bowl adventure.  Once you’ve found the bathroom two words, or at least you hope two words greet you, squatting and pedestal.  As a westerner you hope for a pedestal, which is a typical western toilet,  the fear of God enters your body when you see only the word squatting when entering the toilet.  Especially when you’ve forgotten the cleverly designed device, which looks like a funnel (thanks Jane Brannan), to aid your bathroom activities.  A squatting bathroom is no more than a porcelain hole in the ground, and believe me, it’s difficult to maneuver.  The balancing act that goes on while in the stall is amazing; making sure not to fall, making sure to hit the hole and making sure not to get something that is sure to smell later, all over yourself.  Is that too graphic?  If you are flexible enough to maneuver this, congratulations! But the adventure is not over.  Make sure that you carry your own toilet paper with you because none will be provided.   On top of all this, the males traveling with us say that the men’s room almost always has a western toilet at their disposal, which begs the question, who designed the public restrooms in this country?—probably a male!  That is why I have begun to stop and use almost every restroom with the words pedestal, just in case I get stuck in a place with a squatting only toilet.