Despite China’s well-publicized economic growth over the last 20 years, one accusation frequently leveled at the country is that the state of its public bathrooms still leaves a lot to be desired. However, after renovations at one particular Beijing park, visitors may find their misgivings about using the facilities have been flushed away. 

According to the Beijing Evening News, the capital’s Temple of Heaven Park has installed facial-recognition toilet paper dispensers in six of its public bathrooms. Visitors are required to stand in front of the machine, which will scan their faces before dispensing a fixed length of toilet paper measuring 60 to 70 cm (about 24 to 28 inches).

The whole process takes around 10 seconds, with the same person unable to receive another tranche of toilet paper for nine minutes. In the event that a user requires more than the allotted amount, a park employee confirmed that staff would be on hand to assist. The park has also trained its employees to assist users with the new machines, with the move to an automated dispensing system likely to be confusing for some. But any frustrated users might be consoled with the thought that the toilet paper itself has been upgraded from single ply to double.

The Temple of Heaven is one of Beijing’s most visited parks, and has suffered from an excessive use of toilet paper. However, in a three-day trial period, the new machines helped to reduce toilet paper usage by one-fifth, according to the Beijing Evening News.

Public reaction to the news has been mixed. While some citizens have praised the initiative for helping to cut down on waste, others concern that the machines may malfunction without an attendant on hand to help.

Park officials said they would guarantee that staff would be on hand to help with users during a trial period. They added that user’s reactions to the automated dispensers would be taken into account when considering whether to roll out the machines across the entirety of the park.