China’s toilet ‘revo-loo-tion’ scraps luxury public conveniences in tourist spots

China is to scrap its controversial plan to build luxury public conveniences in tourist spots and instead will replace them with cleaner, more practical facilities as part of its “toilet revo-loo-tion”, the Beijing News reports.

Li Jinzao, director of China National Tourism Administration, told a national tourism conference held in Guilin, in Guangxi, that many existing toilets in China were “dirty, messy, substandard and insufficient” and affected the development and reputation of the nation’s tourism industry.

“Toilets are not only necessary facilities for travellers, but also indicators of how civilised and advanced the tourism industry is,” Li was quoted as saying.

The administration has decided to scrap the current plan for “star-rated” toilets and now plans to build 33,000 new toilets and upgrade and expand 24,000 existing facilities toilets by 2017.

Officials aim for toilets in all of the nation’s tourist attractions, travel routes, transportation hubs, and restaurants and recreational venues in tourist areas to reach an acceptable standard.

All the new and renovated toilets would be “ample in number, clean and odourless, practical, free of charge and effectively managed”, the meeting was told.