Weird World: adult diaper sales soar in China

Adult nappy sales are soaring in China as millions prepare to endure marathon train journeys to be with their families for New Year. Finding a vacant toilet is often impossible during journeys that take as long as 30 hours on overcrowded trains, says the Australian. Some supermarkets reporting a 50% rise in nappy sales since the travel season started on January 14.

Up to four million travellers a day crowded onto China's trains which chug slowly between cities as far apart as Harbin in the northeast and Kunming, about 30 hours away in the south. Stations sell twice as many tickets as there are seats. Every space is filled. Travellers crouch on the floor, sleep in luggage racks and sit for hours in lavatories. Li Tingting, 30, made the 19-hour journey from Beijing to her home in central Hunan province only by jumping off the train at one station and racing into a public toilet. "I climbed over so many people, but every space was full. I checked all the toilets. Next year I bought an adult nappy," she said.