Transparent toilets give tourists eye-catching views in south China

NANNING, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- At Reed Flute Cave, a tourist area in Guilin, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, tourists not only take photos of the scenery but also of the public toilets.

The eye-catching toilets have a bold design -- the walls are made of transparent glass.

Deng Biqiong, the toilet designer, said this helps users enjoy the beautiful scenery outside even while using the toilets.

In the interest of privacy, baffle boards are installed in front of the urinals and toilet bowls so that users need not worry about exposure.

The transparent toilets have been called an epitome of China's "toilet revolution" which was launched in 2015. Over 20 billion yuan (3 billion U.S. dollars) has been invested in building or renovating 68,000 toilets at tourist sites nationwide. The China National Tourism Administration initiated an action plan that same year targeting notorious toilets at the country's tourist destinations.

Though Guilin is well-known for tourism, its public toilets used to have a nasty reputation, with residents and visitors complaining about a lack of facilities and poor hygiene, said Qiu Shujie, an official involved in improving toilet facilities at the city's tourist areas.

In 2000, Guilin built or upgraded 849 toilets at local tourist destinations. In 2015, the city added extra 400 to meet the demand of increasing numbers of tourists.

"The city government has provided a subsidy of 1,200 yuan (182 U.S. dollars) per household to encourage rural residents to upgrade their toilets since last year," said Hou Libiao, an official with the city government.

"It is important to make the countryside livable for residents," said Liu Chengliang from a rural governance research center at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. "Toilets are part of that work." Enditem