City says good riddance to the chamber pot
Print Edition
SHANGHAI has said goodbye to the chamber pot — once a part of daily life for millions of people.
With the completion of the final 6,493 home upgrades in September, the city has officially concluded its lengthy campaign to eliminate what locals referred to as the “carrying the chamber pot” era.
It marks the end of a chapter that lasted over a century. For much of the 20th century, families living in Shanghai’s old stone-gate lane houses, known as shikumen, did not have private toilets. Instead, they used chamber pots at night and emptied them each morning.
The pot, referred to as zisun tong, or the “offspring barrel,” held both practical and cultural significance. It was often given as a wedding gift to wish the newlyweds many descendants. However, over time, the pot became emblematic of overcrowded housing and inadequate sanitation.
By the 1990s, Shanghai had already established itself as a modern city. Yet, many neighborhoods still lacked indoor plumbing.
A newspaper article from 1994 noted that “every day, 700,000 chamber pots parade under the eaves of big Shanghai.”
Even in bustling areas like Nanjing Road and Huaihai Road, people could be seen carrying chamber pots to the street toilet to empty them.
The contrast between Shanghai’s gleaming skyline and its outdated sanitation practices was stark. The phrase “People cannot carry chamber pots into modern life” emerged as a rallying cry for change.
President Xi Jinping has consistently prioritized improving living conditions for residents, focusing on housing issues.
Shanghai began major housing renovation in the 1990s. Most of the old communities had undergone reconstruction or upgrades by 2022. But about 14,000 families were still living in small, scattered homes without toilets. Many of these houses were too tiny or too old for simple upgrades.
Many of them were less than 20 square meters. Installing even a 1sqm flush toilet was not possible. Buildings also had no place to put up new pipes.
City engineers made a detailed map of all former “night soil” stations to locate every household still using chamber pots. Yangpu District, one of the oldest industrial areas, became a key focus.
At Lane 1039 on Huangxing Road, for instance, 10 buildings from the 1960s housed 180 families without toilets.
In 2024, the old houses were demolished. They will be replaced with modern apartments, each with a kitchen and bathroom.
Other districts also found their own ways to solve the problem.
In Xuhui District’s Caoxi No. 3 Community, two three-story blocks built in 1966 were rebuilt into an eight-story apartment complex. Each home now has private sanitation and an elevator. The work took 18 months to finish.
On Huangpu District’s Guizhou Road, old lane houses were protected as heritage buildings. Demolition was not allowed.
Engineers used a mixed approach — installing some toilets inside homes, converting small public rooms into shared ones, and repairing old structures at the same time.
In Changning District, officials used a method called “draw-out renovation,” which involves relocating some residents to free up additional rooms for the remaining households.
At Lane 1407 on Yuyuan Road, one unused 18sqm public room was converted into three private toilets for nearby households. The plan avoided large construction work and made effective use of existing space.
In Pudong’s Chuansha Town, where houses were small and pipes were outdated, the local government used factory-made modular bathrooms.
These compact units — including a toilet, sink and shower — were installed in less than a week. The idea reduced noise, waste and construction time.
In Minhang District, where some houses could not fit an indoor toilet, the city built small outdoor bathrooms beside them.
Each had running water and proper drainage. Even these modest facilities made a big difference to residents’ lives.
Construction was carefully managed — limited work hours, clean sites, and fast follow-up service. Some projects even helped residents install water heaters or repair wiring after completion.
By 2024, nine districts — including Xuhui, Changning, Minhang and Songjiang — had finished early. The rest, such as Huangpu, Hongkou and Yangpu, completed their final households by the end of August 2025.
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