It’s easy to cultivate mushrooms: you just need a small cupboard by the shower, made of wood, and wet it daily (easy to do with the shower) so that the wood can absorb water. Perfect conditions for your own mini-mushroom farm – and remember to turn the lights off in the bathroom when not in use.
Our flat, actually, is not what I would consider unsanitary – even by western standards. It gets swept frequently, kept tidy, and is generally insect free. But for some stupid reason the developers decided that to cover the drainage pipes in the bathroom it would be a good idea to build a wooden cupboard door. Right by the bathtub. That it hasn’t occured to them this isn’t the most appropriate material considering the location is beyond me – but then again, this is the same city that can’t seem to sort out its plumbing (addendum: our new office has similar problems).
In any case, now that I have my own toadstool garden, I should learn how to cook Gan Guo Cha Shu Gu (干锅茶树菇). Or, as someone else suggested – 干锅厕所菇!