THE public restroom atop Lianhua Hill will be reconstructed on the same site and is expected to be completed and put into use by the end of this year, the Shenzhen Metropolis Daily reported Nov. 5. As the number of visitors to Lianhua Hill Park has increased year by year, the restroom originally built has become too small, said the city’s urban management bureau in response to the heated discussion around the reconstruction of the public restroom on the hilltop. A reporter from the Daily visited the park Sunday and saw signs informing visitors of the closure of the public toilets on the hilltop due to a landscape upgrading project. The original public toilets had been demolished and new portable ones were installed for temporary use on the opposite side, the reporter discovered upon arriving on the hilltop. “The original public restroom was opened in 2002 and had been in use for more than 15 years. It was favored by many tourists as the building had a novel design with a style that was in line with the surroundings at that time,” the urban management bureau said in a statement. However, as the city has been developing rapidly, the number of visitors to the park continues rising every year. In 2017, the number of visitors to Lianhua Hill Park reached 10 million, and the number of visitors to the square atop the hill exceeded 20,000 during holidays. Although the park’s management office has been maintaining the public toilets for many years, the shortage could not be rectified by renovation alone. Since 2017, Shenzhen has been vigorously promoting the “toilet revolution.” According to the bureau, the design and style of the new toilets will draw on the originals and they will cover a total area of 950 square meters. They will include men’s and women’s toilets, barrier-free toilets, nursing rooms, unisex toilets and a multifunctional lounge. There will be 16 toilets for men (including urinals) and 25 toilets for women, which will greatly improve the capacity to serve the growing number of tourists. (Zhang Yu) | 