[This post contains material that may be offensive to some readers]

Public defecation is a straight-up fact of life in mainland China. It’s something you’ll see on roads, public places, subways, airplanes, and even elevators. It’s not common in the USA (yet), but it might be soon.

Monterey Park, California, is a Taiwanese community that has seen a number of arrivals from Mainland China recently. They argue that the new immigrants are changing the face of the community. This was encapsulated last Tuesday, when a local resident Mrs Fang and her husband suddenly spotted a middle-aged Asian woman with her pants down, squatting and defecating on someone’s lawn without any regard for public decency. There’s no confirmation the woman is from Mainland China, but the community is speculating about her origin based on her behavior.

Fang told her husband to turn the car around for a second look, and her suspicions were confirmed. The woman, wiping up, unblinkingly stared back at the disbelieving Fang, nonplussed and shameless about her behavior. As Fang took photographs, the woman continued with her business, only pausing to turn her head away from the camera.

After wiping herself clean, she tossed the tissues on the ground, pulled up her pants, and then disappeared down the street.

Sylvia, who lives at the property, said she noticed the feces the next day when she went to walk her dog. She saw the used toilet paper and wondered if dog owners were starting to wipe their dogs after defecating.

She took it upon herself to clean up the mess, saying she didn’t want it to “affect other people”.

The website that broke this story, Chinese in LA, described the incident as being  “extremely embarrassing for the image of Chinese people”, and reminded all residents of the Los Angeles suburb to maintain public decency.

Monterey Park mayor Peter Chan said the incident hurt the city’s image, and may impact whether others decide to move there in the future.