A woman stocks up on toilet paper rolls at a supermarket in Mong Kok, Hong Kong, in February 2020, as panic buying sparked by the coronavirus spreads through the city. Photo: Nora Tam
Opinion
Opinion
Then & Now
Forget panic buying – toilet paper in Hong Kong was once too expensive for most. What was used instead?
- Until relatively recently, manufactured toilet paper was a luxury in Hong Kong that only the wealthy could afford
- Newspaper was the preferred material for most households, though another option could be scavenged from markets. Then there were the night soil collectors
A woman stocks up on toilet paper rolls at a supermarket in Mong Kok, Hong Kong, in February 2020, as panic buying sparked by the coronavirus spreads through the city. Photo: Nora Tam
