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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
China To Lift Lid On Lidless Toilets?
FRANKLINTON, LA - April 2005 - According to recent reports, China is finally
going to come clean and lift the lid on its filthy toilets as its most elite city, Shanghai,
gets ready to host the first World Toilet Expo & Forum May 8 to 10.
Experts are going potty about a dial-a-loo phone line people can call to find
the nearest public privy, reported the Shanghai Daily Wednesday, and Beijing,
eager to put its best face forward for the 2008 summer Olympics, recently
installed high-tech, self-cleaning toilets near popular tourist sites, and promises
to keep them stocked with toilet paper.
But Desi Downey, author of Ni Howdy! An American Woman's (Mal)Adaptation
to Life in the People's Republic of China, says the folks over there have some
explaining to do. Downey, who lived in China for six years and is intimately familiar
with the squat-style pits found in Chinese lavatories-which she dubs "squatty potties"
in her book-claims that lifting the lid on Chinese toilets will be virtually impossible.
"Squatty potties don't have lids," the author insists.
Ni Howdy!, Downey's first book, is a nitty-gritty, down-to-earth,
hilarious account of how she triumphed over the trials and tribulations of
becoming accustomed to daily life in a foreign country. From the horrors
of her first encounter with an airport squatty potty to her eventual, inevitable
and very public entry into the squatty potty zone, Downey paints a vivid and
humorous picture of her many adventures in China.
With no-holds-barred candid wit, the author writes frankly about herself, her
fellow expatriates, and the Chinese people, bringing two incredibly diverse
cultures together with laughter and heartwarming anecdotes. "I just hope Beijing
doesn't make squatty pottying with an audience an Olympic event!" she quips.
As for dial-a-loo, up to a point Downey agrees with the experts who think its such
a potty idea. "But only if it's multi-lingual," she says. "When I first got to China,
I couldn't speak enough of the language to buy toilet paper, much less ask for
directions to the nearest loo or make a phone call!"
And as for China finally coming clean and lifting the lid on its filthy toilets?
"It's true," the author says. "I saw a lot of really weird stuff while I was living
in China. But lifting the lid on a squatty potty? Impossible! Squatty potties
don't have lids!"
Order Ni Howdy! now:
Ni Howdy! can also be ordered from your favorite online or local bookstore.
A B O U T T H E A U T H O R :
Desi Downey lived and worked in China for six years.
Today she lives in the Deep South with her six cats,
two dogs, horses and Justin, where she is currently
hard at work on the sequel to Ni Howdy! Readers
can email her at desi@nihowdy.net.
Media Contact:
Desi Downey
P. O. Box 217
Franklinton, LA 70438 USA
Phone: 985-750-2800
desi@nihowdy.net
To read more about China's bid to come clean
and lift the lid on its filthy toilets,
CLICK HERE,
or visit
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/
04/22/eyeonchina.toilets.reut/index.html
To learn more about the World Toilet Expo,
CLICK HERE,
or visit
http://www.worldtoiletexpo.com
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