In general, Chinese public toilets are rather infamous among travellers. They are usually the floor-level squat variety and often not very clean. The Chinese do not seem to be embarrassed about their bowel movements, so there is often no door. If your kid needs the loo, you just choose a nearby tree. As I mentioned before, the plumbing here is not good so toilet paper must always be thrown in the bin rather than down the toilet. In most restaurant and public toilets there is no toilet paper available, in some places you have to collect it before you go into the cubicle.
Many people will tell you that queuing is not done in China. Actually queuing does happen in some places where it is appropriate, but just not as commonly as in Britain. However, China does differ in that many people completely ignore the queue. At a ticket office, it is very common for people to walk straight to the counter and thrust their money through the gap. This happens whether other people are standing in a queue or not. I haven't worked out why some of them bother to queue.
Haircuts seem to happen anytime, anywhere. My local hairdresser's was still doing great business when I walked past at 11.30 at night. When we got up early, a man was sat, covered with a gown, having his hair cut in the local park at 6 o'clock in the morning. And a couple of times I've passed a row of barbers giving haircuts on the street.
As I mentioned, strangers talk to me here but they do not touch me so that I do not feel hassled or threatened by them. There is relatively little physical contact even between friends and family, at least in public.
The Chinese policy of one child per family is well-known. In comparison with Europe, the value system here puts a higher priority on society and the community than on the individual. The people who I have spoken to are therefore supportive of the one-child policy - they are very aware of the population problem and think it is right for the government to tackle it. On a personal level they might like to have more than one child, but they see the common good and so do not complain about the restriction.
Looking after elderly parents is instilled into the children here from a young age. Families are generally closer than in the UK. Traditionally male children were more desirable than female, but nowadays many people see that women look after their parents better than men and so girls are also popular.
I am interested by the effects on society of so many only children, given that the make-up of our family and our relationship with our siblings has significant psychological consequences. Here all the hopes are put into that one child and so they are both spoilt and made to study very hard. When I visited, I met Xia's niece, who was staying with them. Although she has friends in the area, she spent a lot of the day playing on her own because her friends were studying. (Xia wasn't obeying her sister's instructions to make the daughter study hard too!) Cousins are often referred to as "brothers" or "sisters". I'm not sure if this is a mistranslation or if it is actually the same word in Chinese. But even if they see a lot of each other, I don't think this is the same as having to share toys and other possessions with siblings. I wonder what effects it will have in the future. The policy was introduced in 1980 so the first generation, such as Li and Leyu, have just recently reached maturity.