Many of Beijing’s traditional Hutong neighborhoods have been replaced by wide streets lined with modern high-rise apartments. But for those that remain, the public facilities are going through a revamp, and Beijing’s toilet revolution doesn’t stop there.

Beijing is an important international city, with a population of about 15 million and recent strong economic and cultural growth. This, combined with preparations for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has motivated the Beijing Municipal Government to focus on revamping the city’s public toilet facilities.

The Beijing Municipal Administration Commission says: “Citizens of Beijing view WCs (public toilets) as an important window to the city’s image.”

From 2001 to 2004, the Beijing Municipal Government invested more than US$65 million in rebuilding WCs. This is continuing, with the focus being ‘people oriented, people foremost’ and a goal that any pedestrian in Beijing will soon be able to reach a bathroom in 10 minutes or less.

The Forbidden City, site of the Imperial Palace for the Ming and Qing dynasties, is an example of this policy at work. In 1266AD, the Qing dynasty emperor forbade the building of toilets in or close to the royal city. Those in the royal house used portable toilets carried in and cleaned by eunuchs (imperial workers).

Today the Forbidden City is a huge tourist attraction and has nine WCs for tourist use. The exterior architecture is consistent with the ancient city, and the interior facilities are thoroughly modern.

The carry-on effect of the ‘no toilets’ policy was that when the final (Qing) Emperor stepped down in 1911 there were only eight public toilets in the whole of Beijing.

This was a big problem, considering much of Beijing at the time was made up of hutongs.

The Forbidden City was surrounded by circles comprising the inner and outer city. These comprised narrow streets or alleys formed by lines of courtyard residences known as siheyuan, the traditional style of Beijing house. A number of hutongs joined together to form neighborhoods.

The siheyuan homes were too narrow to accommodate private toilet facilities, so residents relied on public restrooms.

When the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949, many of the hutongs made way for wide streets and apartment blocks. However, many of the ancient hutongs, particularly those closest to the Forbidden City (a total of 1571 hutongs) are protected. Those that remain there still rely on the public facilities, which explains the emphasis on revamping the toilets in these neighborhoods.