The uncovered relic Courtesy of Xu Yuanguang

While peeing in public may be frowned upon in many places, mainlanders apparently take a slightly more tolerant attitude to the practice. In Hong Kong, this cultural clash has led to a number of altercations after mainland parents let their children relieve themselves in the territory's streets.

But at times, evacuating one's bladder in public apparently can have its upside. According to local media in the southwestern city of Chengdu (in Chinese), there is at least one young man who now believes that when the call of nature is heard, just go with the flow.

Xu Yuanguang was riding home from work on his motorcycle last week, the Chengdu Business News reports (in Chinese), when he felt a sudden urge. The 29-year-old shop employee pulled off the road on the outskirts of Chengdu and took aim at a nearby pile of dirt. After completing his task, he spotted a colorful object that had been uncovered by the sudden flow. Intrigued, he dug it out, only to find a terracotta figurine. He and co-worker Yi Zhimin – who had been riding with him -- reported the find to the local Bureau of Cultural Relics. Mr. Xu poses with a certificate from the Pi County Bureau of Cultural Relics Courtesy of Xu Yuanguang Tan Ying of the Cultural Relics Bureau told the Wall Street Journal that the find – which stood 10 centimeters high and measured 17-18 centimeters in length -- was a "three-color" terracotta figure that probably dated to the Song dynasty (960 – 1279). It may have been a burial object taken from a tomb, he said – though the tomb was not in the place where the figurine was found. It won't make Mr. Xu rich. There are many such discoveries in Sichuan, and anyway Mr. Xu has agreed to leave it with the state (he was presented with a certification of appreciation in return). But it does suggest that there are exceptions to most rules. And there is another reason why Mr. Xu's act was understandable – at the time he was in Pi county. -- William Kazer and Li Jie

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