China steps up efforts to upgrade restrooms at tourist destinations

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Continuous efforts will be made to increase the number of toilets and improve sanitary conditions at tourist destinations, said Luo Shugang, Minister of Culture and Tourism, on Friday at the "Ministers' Corridor" during this year's Two Sessions.

He said that while it will take two more years to solve the issue of toilet shortages, the country's "toilet revolution" has made steady progress in the past four years.

A toilet at Yangliuqing Ancient Town in Tianjin, east China, October 28, 2018. /VCG Photo

A public toilet at Qingyan Garden in Huai'an, east China's Jiangsu Province, December 12, 2018. /VCG Photo

Visitors line up at a public toilet in West Lake, Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, October 1, 2014. /VCG Photo

Last year the domestic tourism market recorded 5.5 billion visits, up 10.8 percent year on year. With traveling turning into a necessity for people's well-being, China has been working to improve the overall traveling experience to meet more tourists' needs.

The ministry allocated an increasing amount of its tourism development fund to toilet upgrading projects and extended a preferential policy that facilitates tourist destinations to obtain new land for toilets, said a ministry statement published earlier this week.

China built and upgraded more than 70,000 toilets for visitors from 2015 to 2017, as well as 29,700 toilets in 2018 with the policy and financial support of the government.

(With input from Xinhua, China Daily)

(Cover: A toilet at Qingyan Garden in Huai'an, east China's Jiangsu Province. /VCG Photo)