This comes after a Beijing test event resulted in complaints about the squat toilets. "Nowadays," an official is quoted as saying, " more and more people demand sit-down toilets."

I guess tourists are pretty pushy in China. But half a million foreigners have paid a ton to attend the Olympics and they'll all have to poop while they're in Beijing; it makes sense to make the experience as pleasant as possible. (Also, notice that the toilet featured in the article needs to be flushed! There's old toilet paper in it! Now that's gritty, hard-hitting reporting.)

I wholefartedly approve of the mass installation of sit-down toilets, especially after my experience working in Mumbai a few years ago. Since it's the most modern city in the country, there were sit-downs in restaurants and hotels; but when I went anywhere with only a squat toilet, I just held it in. I had to regularly request toilet paper from housekeeping at the hotels because most Indians use water from little faucets installed next to the toilet. The law firm where I worked had to put toilet paper in the bathroom especially for me. (It was certainly no Cottonelle or Charmin.)

But I don't think Beijing officials should replace ALL the squat toilets just because Westerners are visiting. Chinese people are used to squat toilets and they shouldn't have to completely change how they poop because we "demand" that the country conform to our every need. A compromise can be reached. For example, in the women's bathrooms at the Mumbai airport, half of the stalls contain squat toilets and half contain sitters.

With some effort, it's possible for our cultures to come together and poop in harmony -- after all, global camaraderie is what the Olympics Games are all about.