Monday, July 14, 2008

China designs special toilets with no toilet paper for Beijing Olympics

China continues to make Olympic preparations trying to show the best side of its capital, Beijing.
Only beautiful and tall girls will serve Olympic athletes and tourists during the Summer Games.
In addition, Beijing authorities teach city residents to greet all guests not to offend foreigners.

China designs special toilets with no toilet paper for Beijing Olympics
The preparations to the Games (opening August 8) include a suggestion to reduce the traffic fee on public transportation and even restrict the traffic to decrease the level of environmental pollution in the city. It will be forbidden to spit in the streets of Beijing during the Games. An illegal spit will now cost a Beijing resident $7.

Restaurants providing food to tourists will be obliged to offer non-smoking halls, which will create certain difficulties to restaurant owners. Additionally, dog meat dishes, which are traditionally considered a local delicacy, will be removed from all menus.

Beijing authorities believe that it is necessary to teach Beijing residents politeness and good manners. “When you meet guests, you have to scrub your house clean and behave well,” a senior spokesman for the city administration said.

Many tourists in Beijing have already noticed that the streets and public toilets in Beijing have become unusually tidy and clean. No wonder, the city has spent $57 million on that. It was not a hardship at all to find a public toilet in Beijing before: the typical smell of it was showing the right direction. Now a foreign tourist will need direction signs.

However, even up-to-date Chinese toilets leave much to be desired. Styled as European bathrooms, they miss the most important thing – toilet paper. Those tourists, who already stay in Beijing, advise others to always take toilet paper along.

Beijing authorities also make city residents learn at least several phrases in English. “Welcome to Beijing” is something that any waiter, driver, etc must know how to say.