Restaurants facing the streets must also open their toilets without any charge to passersby and tourists even though they do not eat at the restaurant, according to Wednesday's Beijing Youth Daily.

Officials say it is a way to increase the toilet facilities available to the public. There have already been complaints from travellers and local residents that they can hardly find any usable washrooms in the streets or even at some shopping centers.

Beijing is planning to renovate 3,000 public toilets located mainly in the ancient city's back alleys, known as hutongs. Many of them, built half a century ago, are not up to standard as far as hygiene is concerned, said Beijing Youth Daily.

"Many people come here not to eat but to use the clean, convenient washroom, says Guo Wei, a McDonald's waiter at Qianmen, downtown Beijing.

KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken), A&W and some other fast food shops in the city usually have standard toilet rooms and people can use them freely.

But many restaurants either have no toilet facilities or prohibit people from using them if they do not eat there, say officials. From now on these restaurants will have to stop operating.

Beijing receives millions of local and overseas tourists each year and most of them choose to eat at restaurants instead of luxury hotels, say analysts. Beijing's image greatly depends on the service given by these restaurants.

Officials say that the city will speed up construction of urban facilities to be ready for the 2008 Olympic Games.

( People's Daily December 28, 2001)