Beijing to build toilets with free Wifi

BEIJING -- Beijing Municipality will build 100 toilets with free Wifi access this year, part of the city's "toilet revolution" efforts.

The toilets, to be built in the districts of Tongzhou and Fangshan, will also have ATM machines and charging facilities for cellphones and electric vehicles, said Ji Yang, an official with the Beijing Municipal Commission of City Administration and Environment.

Baby seats will be installed next to the toilets so mothers can free their hands when nature calls.

The estimated cost of each toilet is between 50,000 yuan (7,685 U.S. dollars) and 100,000 yuan, Ji told Xinhua on Monday.

Urinals for children and barrier-free facilities will be installed in the city's current toilets, together with ventilation and air conditioning systems to ensure a stable temperature of at least 12 degrees Celsius in winter and no higher than 30 degrees Celsius in the summer, he said.

Muddy floors, dirty squat toilets and waste paper litter are a common scene in China's urban public toilets.

A "toilet revolution" is planned in the city over the next five years to improve sanitation and service levels, Ji said in a press conference on Friday.

Details will be included in a public toilet construction standard, which is expected to go into effect in October.

As long queues are common in women's bathrooms in high-traffic areas such as tourist spots and shopping malls, the new standards will scrap the original regulation of a 1:1.5 toilet ratio for men and women, allowing for more flexible arrangements.

In the past four "toilet revolutions," which began in 1965, 1989, 1994 and 2002, the city eliminated pit toilets, fees for toilet use and renovated public toilets in alleyways. As of 2015, there were 5.77 public toilets per 10,000 people in the city, higher than the national standard of 4.