Offbeat | Guangdong awards cities for ‘toilet revolution’ in tourism sector

The China National Tourism Administration recently held a discussion of the country’s “toilet revolution” in the tourism sector this year. The meeting took place in the city of Guangzhou on the second day of the Chinese New Year, according to a report by Macao Daily News.

In 2015 and 2016, the Guangdong province invested RMB 1.2 billion in the construction of public toilets, having built a total of 4,505 new toilets in the province during that period.

He Zhong You, the deputy governor of Guangdong, said that 2017 marks the third year of “China’s tourism toilet revolution”, with the province now focusing on renovating toilets in rural areas. He said that the Guangdong government will push for a technological revolution in its public sanitation this year.

During 2015 and 2016, China built 50,016 public toilets in popular tourist areas, comprising 79.33 percent of its national three-year toilet revolution goal. 26,197 public toilets will be built across mainland China this year.

During the meeting, several cities received awards for advances in public sanitation, including six cities in Guangdong: Guangzhou, Meizhou, Chaozhou, Zhanjiang, Jieyang and Shaoguan.

He Zhong You said that Guangdong will also improve infrastructure in both urban and rural tourist areas.