China places timers above toilets at key tourist site

Digital display shows when the booth is occupied and for how long. Photo: AsiaWire

A Chinese city has installed timers above toilets at a key tourist site to ensure the «safety» of its users.

Video published by local media shows a row of stalls, each with a timer behind the door. A digital display shows when the cabin is occupied and for how long.

The exhibits were spotted in the toilets of the Yungang Buddhist Grottoes in Datong City, Shanxi Province. 

But, according to a longtime Chinese emigrant, timers have appeared in Shanghai.

Christian Petersen-Clausen, a documentary filmmaker, said: “This is the first time I've seen these digital clocks that tell you how long each of these toilet stalls is occupied. Saw it in a park in Shanghai.»

While many have condemned the timers as another example of government abuse of people's privacy, others say they could end the hassle of people taking over public toilets to scroll through pages on their own. phones.

The Yungang Buddhist Grottoes are a UNESCO heritage site that boasts tens of thousands of huge statues carved into the caves in the mid-fifth to early sixth centuries AD. Officials say 3 million people visited last year.

'Embarrassing'

The toilet timers there were reported to the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald by a visitor who said he found them embarrassing.

“I think it’s quite an advanced technology, so you don’t have to queue outside or knock on the bathroom door,” the newspaper quoted a visitor as saying.

“But I also felt a little uneasy about it. It felt like I was being watched.”

Buddha from the Yungang Grottoes, a UNESCO heritage site Photo: NurPhoto

An attraction staff member told the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald that timers had been installed to cope with the increase in visitors, but stressed that they did not set limits.

“They are not installed. There are no time limits to control how long you can use the toilet,” they said.

“It’s impossible for us to kick someone out [of the toilet cubicle] halfway through. And we don't set time limits, like five or 10 minutes, for using the toilet.»

The Nanchang Evening News quoted another employee as saying the timers were installed on May 1 for safety purposes and to alert guests that a guest had been there for an extended period of time due to an emergency.