Well, maybe not Jiangsu, but perhaps Nanjing. Forgive us; the rhyme was too irresistible. Nevertheless, recent local efforts at sprucing up those most essential of public facilities are worthy of mention. And a paper published 2 years ago today proves the point.
Earlier this week, The Nanjinger chanced upon this exquisite example of serving the masses. As it turns out, this particular W.C. tells us that the beautification plan was not just a flash in the pan (good pun?).
Back in 2016, DesignCurial, an architectural design website, ranked more than 1,000 public toilets and came up with a list of the most beautiful ones in the world. A public toilet in Nanjing’s Mount Niushou Cultural Tourism Zone was on the list.
Also about 5 years ago, numerous other public facilities in the city were given a makeover, at least on the outside. And it has to be said, they looked great. Many do still today.
After all, it is argued that a country’s public toilets are a measure of the degree of civilisation.
In fact, a conference paper was even published on the subject. “Public Toilets: Determinant of the Progress of Civilisation and Consciousness of Societies or a Necessary Evil?”, by Anna Jaglarz, was brought to the world on 4 June, 2019.
“The design of these places is regarded as a necessary evil by architects. It seems, therefore, that public toilets are doomed to eternal disgrace. But they do not have to be uncomfortable, unpleasant and unfriendly”, Jaglarz wrote.
“If they are rightly included in the structure of the environment, properly located, marked, well-organised and designed, [they] can provide much more benefits.”
In the example which we discovered this week, it transpired that the convenience was not a creation of 5 years ago, now forgotten about. While this delight along Nanjing’s Qixia Avenue dates back many years, its stunning exterior was put in place as recently as this February.
That’s according to enchanting older lady, Ms. Xu, who also informed The Nanjinger she had been working there as attendant since last November. She appeared most content with her job, happy to converse with the not inconsiderable number of people turning up to respond to the call of nature.
This publication also took note of another public convenience, only 200 metres distant. Deserted. It seems Ms. Xu’s posting is the place to go.
We all have to use them from time to time, but there is no reason why a visit to a public toilet should be a revolting experience. Nanjing’s efforts over the last few years are to be applauded, not least for making answering the call of nature a stimulating experience in more ways than one.
