‘New public toilets make it pleasant’
Print Edition
Che Xueqiao oversees six public toilets in Beijing’s Fengtai District, and makes sure that they are clean and free of odors.
Two of the toilets were built last year, while the others were made over into Western-style toilets from traditional squat toilets.
“Inspectors check the toilets every day, so I work hard to keep them clean,” said Che, whose job is part of a national “toilet revolution.”
In 2015, China began a three-year campaign to increase the number of toilets at tourism sites and improve their sanitation.
The campaign was expanded to improve public toilets in cities and build better private toilets in rural areas.
By the end of October, China has invested more than 20 billion yuan (US$3 billion) on installing or renovating 68,000 toilets at tourism sites, exceeding the original target of 57,000.
President Xi Jinping said the construction of clean toilets was an important part of fostering urban and rural civilization, and more efforts should be made nationwide to upgrade toilets.
At the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party promised to make rural areas “pleasant living environments.”
The Party’s toilet revolution aims to equip rural homes with sanitary toilets of at least 2 square meters with walls, roofs, doors and windows. They may be flush toilets or dry toilets with underground storage tanks.
Toilets in the countryside have long been an issue. Some are little more than ramshackle shelters surrounded by bunches of cornstalks — a threat to public health.
About 80.4 percent of toilets in the countryside are now sanitary, up from 71.7 percent in 2012.
In urban areas, the revolution is focused on public toilets.
In 2013, photos of marathon runners in Beijing urinating on the streets went viral online.
Beijing’s inadequate number of public and makeshift toilets became the biggest stain on an otherwise successful event. Toilet conditions have improved markedly since then.
“Several new public toilets have been built in the neighborhood. We sometimes dance and do our morning exercises around here, and the new toilets have made things more pleasant,” said Liu Guoqiang, 62, who frequents Che’s toilets.
Che works for Longrun New Technology, a private company that specializes in waste disposal.
It operates public toilets under its contract with the district authority.
Building on its success in the past three years, China plans to install or upgrade a further 64,000 toilets at tourism sites across the country between next year and 2020.
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