Wuhan Builds 2 Million RMB Luxury Public Toilet
43 commentsShare by Duckee on November 2, 2008
On the south side of Hankou Liberation Park in Wuhan, China, one can find a beautiful pavilion of glass and steel amid the trees and bamboo. There is an elevator leading down underground. Where does it go?
To a public toilet.
“Roughly 2 million yuan has been invested in the project, it is the largest and best and most humanised class of public toilets in Wuhan.” (October 3?Qianjiang Evening Paper)
This luxurious “humanized” public restroom was opened to the public at the beginning of 2008 October.
From NetEase, “[2 million RMB humanized public restroom] Built for who?“:
To ordinary Chinese people, the sole function of a public toilet is to provide a convenience for those who “need to be convenienced”. Because people come and go hastily, people usually do not care too much about the restroom’s level of luxury. A 10,000 to two million yuan toilet is of no matter to those who need to go urgently as long, as the toilet is clean and enables people to “finish the task”. According to officials of the Wuhan Sanitation Department Urban Management Bureau, “There used to be a public toilet in this location but it was torn down. Because the toilet would be too near to the park entrance, and to avoid spoiling the green scenery of the park, it was decided that the public toilet would be built underground. Roughly two million yuan has been invested in the project, it is the largest and best and most civilised class of public toilets in Wuhan.” Clearly, the reasons for building a 2 million yuan toilet are ever so grandiose.
But, coming back to the point, two million yuan for a municipal project and the local government is not considered a huge sum. We are not up in arms because Wuhan has built a two million yuan toilet, let alone criticising for the sake of doing so. We are up in arms because what they (the officials) have done is unrealistic and impractical; especially when there are those who are not well off. To waste the hard-earned money of the taxpayers is truly uncalled for. While homes in the city are built higher and higher, public toilets are increasingly scarce. Every person from the countryside who has been to the city has encountered difficulties when needing the toilet, it was difficult to find a toilet when they needed one urgently. If the government used the two million yuan to build dozens of ordinary toilets to provide the masses with a real place of “convenience”, or used the money to improve schools and education and other areas which need funding, many more people would benefit. Why are our public servants not working towards developments that are beneficial to the country and the people? Using the large sum of two million yuan to build a “respectable” public toilet, surely we cannot help but wonder for whom this construction of public toilets is for.
Americans, naturally...
