Beijing now has nearly 1,000 "non-obstacle" public toilets, said Liang Guangsheng, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Administration Committee (BMAC), Wednesday at the fourth World Toilet Summit (WTS) which opened today, citing such toilet as reflecting the city's civilization process.
   
Non-obstacle toilets are defined as those that are accessible to the handicapped, pregnant women, people with young children and senior citizens. 
   
"The design of public toilets should cater more on the human need and feelings instead of the style and appearance," acknowledged Liang.
   
Noting that the layout of non-obstacle toilets should be effectively standardized and convenient for people, he said handicap facilities in public toilets should be well equipped, with humanitarian care highlighted and the needs of handicapped people, senior citizens, women and children taken into consideration, said Liang, adding that such measures are increasingly essential as the 2008 Olympic Games approaches.
   
Statistics show there were only 20 non-obstacle toilets in Beijing in the 1980s, according to the Beijing Municipal Administration Committee.

   
Yu Changjiang, director general of the Beijing Tourism Bureau, said that in the past, women's toilet facilities were no bigger than men's. Women were often had to wait in lines to use public restrooms.
   
The new standard for star level toilets at Beijing tourist spots states that the ratio of the area of female to male public toilets should be 6:4, said Yu.
   
Jack Sim, the founder of World Toilet Organization, said toilet design should care more about different sex's needs.
   
"It is possible to make people enjoy using public toilets," Yu said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 18, 2004)