A video recently shared on various Chinese news and social media sites shows a set of timers installed above a row of toilet cubicles in a female washroom, with each stall getting its own digital counter.
When a stall is unoccupied, the pixelated LED screen displays the word “empty” in green. If in use, it shows the number of minutes and seconds the door has been locked. ‘We won’t kick people out midway’
The original video was reportedly taken by a visitor who sent it to the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald, a state-run local newspaper.
'We won’t kick people out midway’
The original video was reportedly taken by a visitor who sent it to the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald, a state-run local newspaper.
“I found it quite advanced technologically so you don’t have to queue outside or knock on a bathroom door,” the paper quoted the visitor as saying.
“But I also found it a little bit embarrassing. It felt like I was being monitored.”
Yes, in Shanghai proper, about 70% of the public toilets have toilet paper these days, and that ratio drops quickly to zero as you get into the exurbs. The newest bullshit are toilets which have paper, but you need a face scan to get it and it limits you to like 8 squares. It’s like Japanese high tech bathroom, but instead of some anime Moe toilet character, it’s abusive and dystopian. Almost as if it’s forcing compliant indignity into every corner of society.