Shenzhen and Guangzhou are considered to be the most
inconvenient cities for people to go to the restroom, according to
a survey released in September by the Horizon Group (HG), a leading
firm in professional research and management consulting in
China.
HG surveyed 3,434 local residents in 31 Chinese cities,
beginning in April of this year.
An inadequate number of toilets and poor sanitation were the
most common responses from those surveyed.
The survey showed that most respondents use restrooms in shops
and fast-food restaurants, because they are easier found than
public restrooms on the street.
About 57.3 percent of the respondents use restrooms in shops and
42.9 percent in fast-food restaurants. Only 40.6 percent and 33
percent find restrooms in tourist attractions or on the
street -- the real public restrooms -- respectively.
The survey questions were multiple-choice, so the total result
is more than 100 percent.
About 42.8 percent of participants say the quantity of toilets
is not satisfactory. 30.4 percent feel that sanitation is poor.
27.1 percent believe that public restroom locations are not
reasonable and do not meet the needs and expectations of the public
in some areas.
Some 23.5 percent resent that they must wait longer than
expected to relieve themselves after the effort of searching out
restrooms.
About 29.1 percent of female participants indicated they resent
that it takes longer to wait for their turn in restrooms compared
with men.
In many developed countries, women's restrooms are larger than
men's in consideration of physiological differences. While in
China, spaces are usually the same in both men's and women's
restrooms, causing women to have to wait longer than men.
The 31 selected cities were ranked in order of their restroom's
sanitary conditions and convenience of their location. The best
cites, in the top seven places, are Mianyang, Yichang, Baoding,
Tianjin, Baoji, Shenyang and Changsha.
The worst cities, in the last eight places, are Shenzhen,
Guangzhou, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, Dalian, Shanghai, Beijing and
Lanzhou.
(China.org.cn by Unisumoon, October 4, 2005)