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Danwei Model Worker Award 2008
Minority Stamps
Lavatorial Laurels
posted Sunday, 20 March 2005
I have been mildly chastised and my credentials have been questioned in a comment on my previous entry on the Liuzhou Laurels.
Was I remiss in not including a Best/Worst Toilet category? So it may seem.
However, there was a good reason for this!
In an effort to win the coveted prize, LZ local government pulled a fast one! They spent a cool ¥1,000,000 building a state-of-the-art public toilet, right round the corner from my home!
Was I remiss in not including a Best/Worst Toilet category? So it may seem.
However, there was a good reason for this!
In an effort to win the coveted prize, LZ local government pulled a fast one! They spent a cool ¥1,000,000 building a state-of-the-art public toilet, right round the corner from my home!
The toilet features every mod con, including automatic cleaning after every use. There is even a control panel to play with as you erm, meditate! Complete with a mother and baby unit, this showpiece costs a mere 2 jiao per visit.
The problem is that they built it a couple of miles from the city centre on a fairly busy road. Busy in terms of vehicular traffic, but with very little pedestrian activity. This mean that it receives very few visitors - perhaps 10 a day. I am no mathematician, but even I can work out that it is going to take several light years to repay the investment (not including running and staff costs).
I have concluded that this placement was deliberate. Obviously, if they built it purely to win the prize, then they don't want the place messed up by people actually defiling it by conducting their necessary business there!
Such a blatant attempt to influence the judges could not go unpunished, so they were disqualified! And there being no other suitable candidate, the whole category was scrubbed. There were too many bad toilets to even think about, and a total lack of volunteer inspectors, so that category went too!
On a more serious note, two years ago, during the SARS crisis, someone had the bright idea of cleaning up the city centre toilets. By and large, they have kept this up since.
In fact, so seriously do they local authorities take their toilets that they have applied to the World Bank for cash to improve the facilities (among other projects). One report from the World Bank reads:
"Municipal sanitation directly and visibly impacts Liuzhou’s neighborhoods and the daily lives of its citizens. Liuzhou now has 249 public toilets, but a 1995 city plan estimates that 417 public toilets are needed by 2010. This shortage is partially attributable to the dismantling of public toilets, without plans for replacement, to accommodate road widening and urban construction. Many of the remaining public toilets have poor facilities and unsanitary conditions, hindering city development and frustrating citizen expectations of public toilet services. Although estimates of the future demand for public toilets should be carefully analyzed since China’s urban situation is rapidly changing, it is clear that Liuzhou needs to fill a sizable gap, including rebuilding and upgrading existing public toilets. Accordingly, Liuzhou is seeking funding for reconstruction and additional public toilet construction, and advice on how to better manage its sanitation facilities through private sector involvement."
For serious toilet aficiandos, a full report can be accessed here.
In the meantime, I will still nip into the Lijing Hotel for a free try of their 4 star facilites if caught short in the city!
The problem is that they built it a couple of miles from the city centre on a fairly busy road. Busy in terms of vehicular traffic, but with very little pedestrian activity. This mean that it receives very few visitors - perhaps 10 a day. I am no mathematician, but even I can work out that it is going to take several light years to repay the investment (not including running and staff costs).
I have concluded that this placement was deliberate. Obviously, if they built it purely to win the prize, then they don't want the place messed up by people actually defiling it by conducting their necessary business there!
Such a blatant attempt to influence the judges could not go unpunished, so they were disqualified! And there being no other suitable candidate, the whole category was scrubbed. There were too many bad toilets to even think about, and a total lack of volunteer inspectors, so that category went too!
On a more serious note, two years ago, during the SARS crisis, someone had the bright idea of cleaning up the city centre toilets. By and large, they have kept this up since.
In fact, so seriously do they local authorities take their toilets that they have applied to the World Bank for cash to improve the facilities (among other projects). One report from the World Bank reads:
"Municipal sanitation directly and visibly impacts Liuzhou’s neighborhoods and the daily lives of its citizens. Liuzhou now has 249 public toilets, but a 1995 city plan estimates that 417 public toilets are needed by 2010. This shortage is partially attributable to the dismantling of public toilets, without plans for replacement, to accommodate road widening and urban construction. Many of the remaining public toilets have poor facilities and unsanitary conditions, hindering city development and frustrating citizen expectations of public toilet services. Although estimates of the future demand for public toilets should be carefully analyzed since China’s urban situation is rapidly changing, it is clear that Liuzhou needs to fill a sizable gap, including rebuilding and upgrading existing public toilets. Accordingly, Liuzhou is seeking funding for reconstruction and additional public toilet construction, and advice on how to better manage its sanitation facilities through private sector involvement."
For serious toilet aficiandos, a full report can be accessed here.
In the meantime, I will still nip into the Lijing Hotel for a free try of their 4 star facilites if caught short in the city!
