World Toilet Day: What do people think of China's public toilets?

World
Europe

02:02

Five years ago, the United Nations General Assembly designated November 19th as World Toilet Day. The day is meant to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. We hit the streets of Beijing to find out what people think of China's public toilets, and what could be done to improve them.

JAMIE WANG TOURIST "I think I have used public toilets before, and I think a lot of improvement has been made, especially the light, it was not light enough."

LI SUHONG BEIJING RESIDENT "The quantity and quality of China's public toilets have improved dramatically compared to two years ago. Now finding a public toilet is much easier. But there is still room for improvement, such as the environment, the tissues, and the service for handicapped people."

GAO SHENG BEIJING RESIDENT "I think the signs for public toilets are not clear enough. The location may be really close to you, but you just can't find it, especially when you are in the middle of somewhere you are not familiar with, which leaves you with no other options except for asking around."

RALF SCHELBACH GERMAN RESIDENT OF BEIJING "As far as I see them on the streets, they are actually much more frequent than I have experienced in western countries. So, therefore, I'm actually quite happy, because you see them in a short period of distance from one to the other, and they look also quite well maintained. Because actually, I see maintenance people quite close to the public toilets."

WANG FENGZHEN BEIJING RESIDENT "I hope the water in public toilets can be less freezing, especially in winter. On the other hand, the general condition of public toilets is much better than previous years with the improvement of people's manners."

MR. WANG BEIJING RESIDENT "I have been living in Beijing for a couple of years now, I have to say today's public toilets are much better than before. Sometimes people might forget to flush, but overall it is very satisfactory."