Bathrooms in China - 洗手间

Before coming to China, I heard horror stories about the bathrooms here. For example, I was working at Borders before I left for China and when I was talking with a customer about going to China, their daughter, who looked to be about five, heard me talking about my upcoming journey. As soon as she heard me say the word China, she looked up and said to me, “In China, when you have to go to the bathroom, it is just a hole in the ground”. That was obviously her first and lasting impression of China.
Here there are basically two types of bathrooms: Western bathrooms and non-western bathrooms. The western bathrooms are the type you would find in the United States or Europe. The kind that are “normal” to me. The non-western bathrooms are a bit different and take a bit of getting used to. These bathrooms are not bad, as most people seem to think, but are just different. They are kind of like holes in the ground, in that they are set into the floor, but they are much nicer than just holes in the ground. They are usually made of porcelain and they flush just like “normal”, western toilets. Instead of sitting on them, though, one has to squat over them. In a way, though, it is more sanitary because you do not touch them at all.
An important thing to remember with the non-western toilet is not to put the toilet paper, or the tissues, into the toilets. They are not made to flush the toilet paper, so the toilet paper or tissues should go into the garbage can. Another thing to remember when using Chinese bathrooms is to bring your own tissue or toilet paper because unless you are in a nice restaurant, you will not be provided with toilet paper and must use your own.
Do not worry, though, about these different kinds of bathrooms. It may seem daunting at first, but they are very easy to get used to. And remember, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!
One more hint - the characters for bathroom in Chinese are: 洗手间, so if you see this written somewhere, or on a sign with an arrow, then you will know how to get to the restrooms!