Forty-four restrooms in buildings occupied by government departments and agencies in Guangzhou have been opened to the public, as part of efforts to deal with the city's shortage of public toilets.
All urban management departments — commonly known as chengguan — and some neighborhood committees along major roads in the southern metropolis have opened their facilities.
The offices for Tianhe district's urban management and law enforcement bureau and its legal aid center under the justice bureau have even placed signs in conspicuous places to invite passers-by to use the toilets inside.
The city's chengguan administration, which manages public toilets, has pledged to urge more government buildings to grant the public access to their restrooms in coming months, said Han Zhipeng, a member of the Guangzhou Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, who hailed the move a "revolution" in urban management.
"Apart from confidential and sensitive agencies that need armed police at the gates, all other departments should open their toilets to the public to ease the shortage," he said. "The chengguan authority is considering awarding or subsidizing departments that follow suit."
