Spittoon

For years, Chinese tackled spitting and littering with spittoon. In big families or small homes, a spittoon could be found where the guests would sit. On a photo showing Chairman Mao Zedong and former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger in Zhongnanhai of Beijing, there is an old style spittoon between them. Some foreigners seem to like the spittoon for its shape, but they do not know its function in China. A former ambassador to China once paced a blue-and-white porcelain spittoon with dried flowers on a long table in the sitting room. The peony flower was once a popular decoration for basin, cup, thermos, spittoon, mirror, quilt, pillow cover and other things. The magnificent flower stood for uniformed aesthetic views in the country. In old lanes of Shanghai, men and women dressed in pajamas could be seen carrying the spittoon to the public toilet early in the morning. For the family members living in a crowded space, the spittoon saved them the trouble of going to the public toilet at night. But as living conditions improve, this is no longer a common scene in the cosmopolitan. With the number of Chinese netizens increasing at an astounding speed, the Internet seems to have become a public spittoon. Many people vent their dissatisfaction or even launch attacks on others under anonymity.