A video showing a set of timers installed above a row of toilet cubicles in a female washroom at China’s UNESCO-listed Yungang Buddhist Grottoes is drawing mixed reactions.
A video recently shared on various Chinese news and social media sites shows a set of timers installed above a row of toilet cubicles in a female washroom, with each stall getting its own digital counter.
When a stall is unoccupied, the pixelated LED screen displays the word “empty” in green. If in use, it shows the number of minutes and seconds the door has been locked.
‘We won’t kick people out midway’
The original video was reportedly taken by a visitor who sent it to the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald, a state-run local newspaper.
'We won’t kick people out midway’
The original video was reportedly taken by a visitor who sent it to the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald, a state-run local newspaper.
“I found it quite advanced technologically so you don’t have to queue outside or knock on a bathroom door,” the paper quoted the visitor as saying.
“But I also found it a little bit embarrassing. It felt like I was being monitored.”
If the Chinese are anything like the Japanese, some people (especially old people) will just lock themselves inside and sit down to take a nap. Even in a busy toilet, with no regard for people who actually need to use one.
I had a coworker at a previous job who used to take naps in the bathroom stall because it was the only place in the office with a bit of privacy.
I kinda get it. I used to sit in a stall to decompress my brain because open plan offices are incredibly stressful to me. Every couple of hours I needed ~10 minutes of privacy.
For some elderly, they may find that they need to nap again to function. If you don't drive, you don't have a private location to sleep beyond home or a hotel. Rather than go home, they sleep on a bathroom stall.
I mean I ain't stopping you. The Chinese guys though? They wouldn't give a flying shit. Which is good because that's what would be happening in the stall as they bust down the door.
Having been to China, their public toliets are not up to Western standards in terms of smell and cleanliness.
Either these are equivalent to Western-standard and they trying to curb abuse because they are attempting to be equitable, or they are trying to boost productivity via public shaming. I saw the locals would just squat and smoke while playing on phones while being very exposed without any care in the world.
I was shocked at how widely accepted that was and that was in like a public kybo. Never seen anything like it.
Yes, in Shanghai proper, about 70% of the public toilets have toilet paper these days, and that ratio drops quickly to zero as you get into the exurbs. The newest bullshit are toilets which have paper, but you need a face scan to get it and it limits you to like 8 squares. It's like Japanese high tech bathroom, but instead of some anime Moe toilet character, it's abusive and dystopian. Almost as if it's forcing compliant indignity into every corner of society.
Could have kept the empty/occupied sign with a subtle indicator for staff that comes on after an unusually long time. Same functionality without showing everyone the time down to the second.