The baby-care stall (a place for mothers to feed their babies or change the diapers) in a 5-star toilet. [Photo: Xinhua Net by Zhao Yeping]

Many visitors to Hainan Island have been deeply touched by its tropical island atmosphere, but somewhat repelled by the public toilets there, which are generally scarce, shabby and dirty. Since the toilet problem has become a bottleneck for Hainan's tourism development, the local provincial administration decided to launch a "toilet revolution," beginning this past Thursday.

The construction of a five-star public toilet facility has begun on August 31st alongside the island's eastern freeway, raising the curtain on their "toilet revolution." According to the government's plans, 150 star-rated public toilets for tourists will be built in the major tourist cities and scenic areas in Hainan within the coming two years, including ten 5-star public toilets along the main highways.

To speed up this revolution, the tourism administration of Hainan Province has updated the regulations on tourist toilets. AAAA-grade scenic areas must have public toilets rated at 3 stars or above, and AAA-grade sightseeing spots must renovate their toilets to at least the 2-star level. No new scenic area can apply for the grade evaluation if they still have inadequate toilets.

Up to now, 89 standardized newly-built or renovated toilets have been put into use in the 35 graded scenic spots in Hainan. The appearance of these star-rated toilets is in harmony with the surrounding landscape, and they are equipped with instructional signs in five languages: Chinese, English, Russian, Japanese and Korean. All tourists can use these fancy toilets for free.