Shenzhen and Guangzhou are considered to be the most inconvenient cities for people to go to the restroom, according to a survey released in September by the Horizon Group (HG), a leading firm in professional research and management consulting in China.

HG surveyed 3,434 local residents in 31 Chinese cities, beginning in April of this year. 

An inadequate number of toilets and poor sanitation were the most common responses from those surveyed.

The survey showed that most respondents use restrooms in shops and fast-food restaurants, because they are easier found than public restrooms on the street.

About 57.3 percent of the respondents use restrooms in shops and 42.9 percent in fast-food restaurants. Only 40.6 percent and 33 percent find restrooms in tourist attractions or on the street -- the real public restrooms -- respectively.

The survey questions were multiple-choice, so the total result is more than 100 percent.

About 42.8 percent of participants say the quantity of toilets is not satisfactory. 30.4 percent feel that sanitation is poor. 27.1 percent believe that public restroom locations are not reasonable and do not meet the needs and expectations of the public in some areas.

Some 23.5 percent resent that they must wait longer than expected to relieve themselves after the effort of searching out restrooms.

About 29.1 percent of female participants indicated they resent that it takes longer to wait for their turn in restrooms compared with men. 

In many developed countries, women's restrooms are larger than men's in consideration of physiological differences. While in China, spaces are usually the same in both men's and women's restrooms, causing women to have to wait longer than men.

The 31 selected cities were ranked in order of their restroom's sanitary conditions and convenience of their location. The best cites, in the top seven places, are Mianyang, Yichang, Baoding, Tianjin, Baoji, Shenyang and Changsha.

The worst cities, in the last eight places, are Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, Dalian, Shanghai, Beijing and Lanzhou.

(China.org.cn by Unisumoon, October 4, 2005)