Along with working faucets and hand-driers, the 1,700 toilets located in downtown areas and tourist destinations are required to be equipped with toilet paper and soap, but maintenance staff often find these items disappearing quickly or damaged. As a result, most of the public toilets are short of toilet paper and users have to either ask the staff to provide paper or bring their own. Public toilets in hutong areas, which are mainly used by neighborhood residents, have no toilet paper.

The government has sent out free pamphlets to promote "civilized behavior", including topics such as toilet use, spitting and queue jumping. Inside public toilets, reminders of the proper use of toilets are posted on the walls.

"Most of them are quite humorous with a human touch, which is acceptable to the public," says Guo Weidong, director of the Publicity Department of Beijing Municipal Utilities Administration Commission.

But most importantly, he says, the maintenance of a clean toilet depends on "the self-discipline and the standards set by the public.

Kevin used to be curious about the Chinese signs on the walls of some men's restrooms that read: "A small step forward, a big leap for civilization."

After realizing its meaning, he says, "I guess this could also summarize the overall improvements to Beijing's toilets."

(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2008)