Has anyone else noticed problems with plumbing in Beijing? Perhaps it’s just the district I live in (海淀区), but for some odd reason nearly every building I get to know well has a (now) familiar odour emanating mysteriously from what is presumably the drainage pipes. Are they too cheap to install U-bends here in Beijing? Or is it something else? Or is this a ‘perfume’ pumped free to residents which I have just yet to appreciate? Not that that would surprise me – considering locals actually enjoy drinking 豆汁 (a horrible drink derived from over-fermented soya beans, to put it nicely).
Actually, given the two options, I think i’ll stick to smelly pipes thank-you!