Toilet app draws road map to relief for those in need

A national cloud platform to help people locate toilets has served more than 100,000 users since Nov 19, the day it popped up online as part of China's so-called toilet revolution, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said on Wednesday.

The platform, which began operating on World Toilet Day, was developed by the ministry to help residents and visitors locate the nearest restroom within a 2-kilometer radius.

Users of the platform can get quick access to the nearest restroom both on an app called City Toilets or via the city's toilet cloud platform on WeChat. Directions will be offered.

The database comprises 330,000 public restrooms in 216 cities across 19 provinces, the ministry said.

Yang Hongyi, director of urban environment sanitation facility management for the ministry, said the platform is a constructive response to the State-level toilet revolution campaign.

"Users can not only find a toilet when in urgent need but can upload an evaluation after using it to help toilet managers and government administrators improve the facilities," he said. "It's the platform's way to turn the managers from passive problem-solvers to active problem-finders."

He said that nearly 1,000 comments on toilet management and sanitation conditions have been received so far.

The platform is available for iOS and Android systems, but only in Chinese. An English version is in the works.

Kuang Shihuan, the technical director who operates the ministry's platform, said his team is improving the platform to give users a better experience.

Images of toilets and information about cubicles and nursery rooms will be shown on the platform in the future, he said.