Letter to editor
DEAR China: I have just completed an eight-day visit to your country and I must say I enjoyed the scenic beauty of your vast land.
I started from Chengdu and journeyed down to some of the beauty spots such as the Shuanglung Waterfall, Mirror Lake and the Baoguo Temple.
I noted that most of the tourists are domestic arrivals who, according to your official data, made 765 million domestic trips last month (September 2024).
Your China Tourism Academy even optimistically predicted that the number of foreign tourist arrivals for 1H 2024 would exceed 15 million.
And your Culture and Tourism Ministry has promised to improve services to boost your tourism industry.
But while I am impressed with the natural beauty of China, I must say I was horrified by your public toilets, especially those located in the restrooms along the highways.
Maybe, your citizens do not care much about doing their “private business” in such atrocious conditions but people from abroad do care very much about clean and hygienic public lavatories.
World-class toilets
The culture of the people is not only reflected in their lifestyle but more importantly, in their attitude towards personal cleanliness.
When tourists stepped into a public toilet to answer the call of nature, they expect to see a clean place and not encounter a “chamber of horrors” that make you want to puke at the unbearable stench of human waste and urine.
Many times, I recoiled in utter disgust when I stepped into one of your public toilets. My picture of China is one of an advanced nation that should showcase not only the prowess of its technology but also a high standard of public healthcare, starting with your public toilets.
China is so advanced that it even plans to send men to the moon but on earth, China could only build drains for the tourists to do their “private business” in poorly-lit environment.
Tourism is a multi-billion yuan industry and your country is going to great lengths to popularise your many local attractions to foreign visitors. So, China, allocate more funds from your trillion-yuan national budget to clean up the mess in your public toilets.
Make your lavatories of world-class standard in line with your status as a super economic powerhouse.
Get your huge workforce to turn your “highway stations” into pleasant restrooms of comfort and convenience. Scent them. Sanitise them. Make them smell of perfume.
Otherwise, when foreign tourists return home, the first news they will spread is: don’t visit China because it stinks to high heaven. – Oct 25, 2024
Phlip Rodrigues is a retired journalist.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
