Shapes and signs of Guangzhou's public toilets will be standardized this month, the Southern Metropolitan News reported.

The standard signs would clearly indicate public toilets to local and foreign people, the report said.

This was in a response to Lai Binghui, a member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPPCC. The general office of the Guangzhou government said the signs for new and renovated toilets would be gradually standardized.

The signs will be designed according to international standards and contain the word "toilet" and the relevant Chinese characters. Head portraits will be used to identify toilets for men, women and the disabled.

(Shenzhen Daily August 13, 2004)