Advanced technologies revitalize ancient Chinese city

In a matter of seconds, Qian Yafen can easily locate the nearest vacant toilet on her cell phone.

"I downloaded an app, clicked 'find a restroom' and then they just came up, with pictures of nearby public restrooms, numbers of available toilets as well as maps showing how I could get there," Qian said.

Two LED screens of the smart public restrooms in Lijiang, Yunnan province. [Photo by Zi Qiang/Xinhua]

She picked the nearest one and scanned a QR code on a tissue box after entering the restroom, which distributed free toilet paper.

"It's brilliant! It helps avoid waste and solves my problem so quickly in a way that I'd never thought of," she said.

Qian is visiting the Old Town, a famous UNESCO World Heritage Site with an 800-year history in the city of Lijiang, Yunnan province, which attracted more than 14 million tourists last year.

"The Old Town is so charming. I love it, especially its fabulous lavatories -- I even took pictures with them," she said.

All 30 public restrooms in the Old Town are two-story buildings with traditional characteristics of Naxi, the native ethnic group. Two LED screens hanging at the entrance of each restroom designate both the men's and women's room as well as a unisex room. The screens also display the real-time temperature, humidity, and the concentration of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia gas.

"You can check the availability of each toilet on the screen," said He Tang, a senior official with the protection and administrative bureau of Lijiang Old Town.

"We use simple figures with numbers below to represent each toilet on the screen. Red means occupied while green stands for vacant," he added.