This Day, That Year

Item from Dec 13, 1988, in China Daily: A public toilet in downtown Beijing is carpeted. This is part of Beijing's efforts to improve the capital's dirty and smelly public toilets, the target of constant complaints from residents and foreign tourists.

To improve hygiene and boost tourism, authorities launched a campaign to upgrade public toilets in 2015.

As of October, the country has installed or upgraded 68,000 bathrooms at tourist destinations. To expand the plan nationwide, from tourism spots to cities and rural backwaters, another 64,000 toilets will be renovated from 2018 to 2020, according to the China National Tourism Administration.