$6,000 Toilets in China

choi

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David Pierson, In China, nothing says 'upwardly mobile' like a $6,000 toilet. Los Angeles Times, Oct. 1, 2010.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-china-toilet,0,1385967.story
("Squat toilet habits are hard to break in China, particularly among the older generation. Women's public restrooms commonly include signs asking visitors not to stand on the seats. The telltale sign it's too late? A set of footprints.")

Note:
(a) Goldilocks Principle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldilocks_Principle

Goldilocks has blond hair.
lock (n): "1a: a tuft, tress, or ringlet of hair  b plural: the hair of the head"  

All definitions are from www.m-w.com, except (g).
(b) Toto Ltd.
http://www.toto.co.jp/en/
(c) commode (n; French, from commode, adjective, suitable, convenient): "TOILET"
(d) bidet (n; French, small horse): "a bathroom fixture used especially for bathing the external genitals and the anal region"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet

* fixture (n): "something that is fixed or attached (as to a building) as a permanent appendage or as a structural part <a plumbing fixture>"
(e) Two Japanese surnames:

Katsuya 勝谷
Yanagihara 柳原

(f) The report states, "To better suit the Chinese market, some Kohler toilets are made a few inches shorter than in the U.S." I guess it alludes to shorter stature of Chinese.
(g) floorboard (n): "long wooden board that is part of a wooden floor"
MacMillan Dictionary.



--------------Separately
(1) Editorial: Rising Power. Washington Post, Sept. 27, 2010.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/26/AR2010092603022.html

(2) William Wan, Love, worry send Tai Shan fans to China. Washington Post, Sept. 29, 2010.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/29/AR2010092907837.html

My comment:
(a) You may not be interested in this story, which talks about Tai Shan the panda which returned to China from a DC zoo in February, this year after a contract to loan him expired. This time, four American women (3 from DC and 1 from New York City) go to Sichuan to call on the panda.
(b) The report states, "The sight of the Western women scrubbing down the panda pens was enough to cause flocks of Chinese tourists to swivel their cameras to catch the action."

I suspect the "scrub" should be "scramble" or "clamber." The former is a intransitive verb defined as "to move or climb hastily on all fours."
www.m-w.com

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