The Ministry of Public Toilet Ratings
Blog: eat drink seth liz - 6 August 2009
By: sethandliz
This post is the second installment of our Funny Signs in China series.
Some of the signs aren't all that funny, actually, but we try not to have such high standards.
No public health campaign is really complete without cartoons scaring the kids. This educational cartoon about H1N1 plays on a continuous loop in the airport. ("It comes from America" is one of the fun facts, which we generously interpreted as meaning "The continents of N. and S. America".)
Five miles into our hike up Mt. Huangshan we came upon public toilets that received three stars from the APTA (Anhui Provincial Tourism Administration).
Unfortunately the sign didn't give any details about how these stars are acquired. How many can a toilet get? Is there grade inflation? Are the ratings distorted by bribes? In my imagination I can see the conversation at APTA headquarters...
APTA Deputy: Sir, the study we commissioned found that tourists in Anhui are terribly disappointed in the province's toilet quality.
APTA Chief: How do you propose that we deal with this situation?
APTA Deputy: What about a province-wide mandate, sir? With fines for violators!
APTA Chief: Yes, but we must use both sticks and carrots.
APTA Deputy: What do you mean?
APTA Chief: Let me tell you about the Michelin Guide's stars...
At the top of the mountain next to our shi-shi hotel we found one of the rare four star toilets, which gave us enough data points to extrapolate the system:
1 star: No feces on floors or walls. A door on each stall.
2 stars: Running water
3 stars: No smell of urine. Toilet paper dispensers and soap dispensers (no toilet paper or soap).
4 stars: Full-time bathroom attendant. Evidence that there was, at some time, soap in the soap dispenser.
5 stars: Soap.
This sign should be installed in front of all urinals!
Smoking is strictly forbidden! ...on this side of the line.
In China we have found there is a deliberate ambiguity between massage parlors and "massage parlors."
Here are some mildly amusing signs
BONUS PICTURES:
In our hike through the tea plantations outside Hangzhou we discovered a centuries-old Buddhist cave that was just dark enough to do some extended exposure photography. (Be sure to look at these in full screen mode. The button is in the bottom right corner of the slideshow.)
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