The improvement of rural living conditions is manifested in different ways, but none more effectively than the presence of the humble toilets. CGTN's Tao Yuan has more details.

For generations, these are the kinds of toilets Chinese people used to conduct their daily business. A hole in the ground, with people squatting over it, their droppings falling directly onto the ground.

TAO YUAN SANTAI COUNTY, SICHUAN PROVINCE "In the cities, these 'pit toilets' are a thing of the past. But they can still be found across China's countryside. Words used to describe them include 'filthy, smelly, and unsanitary'. But they have a very practical use - to fertilize the farmland."

Wang Tichun is from a village in southwest China's Sichuan Province. Every morning, he collects night soil from his pit toilet by the bucket loads and dumps it in his vegetable farm nearby.

WANG TICHUN, VILLAGER FUCHENG VILLAGE "We've always done this - small patches of farms are all fertilised with human and animal waste."

Many villagers here have moved into these newly built village houses, with flush toilets not quite on par with those in the city yet, but a long shout from a hole in the ground. It's been called a toilet revolution initiated for the sake of hygiene. But human waste isn't just flushed away - it's stored in a pit underground for compost purposes, producing biogas, which through these tubes and pipes, fuels gas stoves. Li Shizheng is the official in charge of the biogas program here.

LI SHIZHENG, CHIEF SANTAI COUNTY RURAL ENERGY OFFICE "China's countryside faces different problems when compared to those of a city. But at the same time, we have our resources and advantages. This biogas program utilises the resources we have to solve the problem of waste management and energy use."

Problem solved but not quite yet. Li Xiuzhi has a flush toilet upstairs in her home. But she still prefers her hole in the ground.

LI XIUZHI VILLAGER "Only my children and grandchildren use the flush toilet. I think it's such a waste of water."

Age-old habits seem difficult to flush away. A revolution indeed. TY, CGTN, Santai County in Sichuan Province.