So this is our first winter experience in China and we didn’t really expect it would get this cold! Especially since most houses/apartments here doesn’t have a central heating system, it feels chillier inside our apartment than outside. I’ve been noticing our neighbors walking around inside their homes wearing thick jackets just like what you’d wear to go out in this wintery season. DH had to explain that most places doesn’t have heater thus the extra clothing.

When I first got here, it wasn’t this cold and I still ‘managed’ to go out and about wearing a t-shirt but I noticed the local Chinese were already fully armed in their thick winter jackets, coats, and boots. Ooooh the boots! Don’t even let me start on that one because that deserves an entry of its own.

What I think cute is how I keep spotting Chinese babies all heavily bundled up from head to toe but that open-crotch ‘tradition’ makes their tiny little bums hanging out and exposed to the cold. I wonder if those cute tiny bums ever get frost bite. That’s actually one of the things about China living that I’m so eager to take a picture of. I’ve seen these babies around with their “kaidangku” (literally “open-crotch pants”) when I first got here in summer.

First impression? Baffled and amused!

The first baby I saw was lying down on her back in her nice stroller being pushed by her Ayi (Nanny) for an afternoon stroll. I immediately noticed this uncommon sight (at least where I came from it is uncommon) as I saw the open crotch and a diaper being laid underneath her instead.

Since then I’ve seen more sights and learn that this is a common Chinese practice when it comes to babies. When I Google about this, I found some blog that basically says diapers is unavailable in China. That is wrong! I haven’t seen all parts of China yet but I do know that one can find diapers at local supermarkets here, maybe not so much in the rural areas.

The sizing is a little off in my opinion and as a mommy, I am having a hard time finding the right size diapers/pull-ups for my little boy. He’s big for a kid his age and wears a size 7 Pampers back in the US and not potty train yet as he just turned 2 last month. Here, the sizings are similar to Indonesia, ranging from Small to Extra Large (although in Indonesia you can find diapers in XXL size).

Anyway, back to the famous sight of “kaidangku”, it turned out that the Chinese starts their baby’s potty training early. One can easily spot a mother (or Ayi) squatted down with her baby on the side of the road and making a whistling sounds to encourage their baby to pee (I had personally witnessed one grandma did this while holding the baby above a trash can inside a mall).

One of DH’s friends says you can always tell the sex of the child simply by learning the distinguishingly different sounds they use to encourage urination. This approach is very similar to the ones practice in Indonesia although there, most people just use a regular ‘pssss’ sounds for both genders. Indonesians mostly use cloth diapers for their babies although the conveniences of using disposable diapers are widely spread now.

I know it’s not right to compare this culture to the western ones but I just can’t help but wondering the hygiene aspects of it all. Yes, the baby will not be dealing with diaper rash by being ‘air dry’ most of the time and it does save the planet by reducing garbage from disposable diaper. But what about germs? God knows big cities such as Guangzhou is heavily polluted already, so exposing one’s genital in open air doesn’t sounds very clean to me, especially if it’s a baby girl. Also, it is unsanitary for them to be peeing and pooping everywhere (not to mention the disturbing stinky smells!).

Maybe it’s all a culture thing that one must appreciate without asking too much questions (like myself obviously!). This ‘kaidangku’ reminds me of my own mother back in Indonesia who is strongly repulsed by the idea of using baby wipes to do the clean up after a messy diaper my son created while I consider it totally normal thing.

Anyway back to the weather, yesterday I woke to a 6 degrees Celsius (that’s like 42 F) temperature…but it feels a lot more colder indoor. The highest temperatures now are in the 18-20 Celsius (64-68F). I know it’s not as cold as the winter back in the US but at least people in the US should be thankful for their central heater.

So since it will still be pretty cold (at least to us!), I decided to store Lil’ A’s shorts in a different room. I sure do hope spring will come soon and we’ll definitely be on the look out for a portable heater, although trying to keep this curious toddler away from it will be a challenge I think it’s better than having our butts freezing!