Entering a toilet despite a foul and strong smell, our journalists found footprints that had sloshed through puddles on the floor. People could not find the attendant who was said previously to have been comparatively diligent at his sanitation work. Other high-grade toilets reported the same problems. Sanitation seems to be the main problem after the fee cancellation

A ridiculous episode happened in a toilet on Xueyuan Street. A tourist was observed urgently looking for the attendant with money in his hand because he dared not go into the toilet without paying the charge. He was from Shandong Province and did not know that toilets in Beijing are now free. Another toilet at Jishuitan Street still had the signboard announcing “Three mao (a nickel) for one person” stuck on window. The attendant explained he had not gotten around to take it down.

One toilet along Ping’an Street was flooded with waste water, and the spigots were all broken. Our journalists waited for over half an hour and saw nobody come to repair or clean the premises. A resident surnamed Zhang said that nobody takes care of cleaning the toilet since the cancellation of the fee. Our journalists also investigated in some parks where resentful tourists also complained about finding no toilet paper available in public toilets.

(Beijingnews.com.cn and translated by Unisumoon for china.org.cn March 21, 2002)