Shanghai residents face modern toilet facilities

SHANGHAI - As the music from the Customs House clock tower rang out over the Bund and East Nanjing Road at 7:30 am, it was joined by the sound of flushing water in the side lanes near the city's iconic shopping streets.

Gu Yaqin carried a plastic basin containing her family's overnight excrement and walked to a public toilet close to her home in Pentang Lane, one of the narrow alleys near Nanjing Road. She went into a small room separate from the toilet and quickly washed the basin, which has been a daily routine for more than 20 years.

Residents living in these lanes have to use wooden toilet bowls and plastic or enamel basins that look like large spittoons because they do not have modern toilet facilities in their old homes, which some say date back to the 19th century.

The small room in the public toilet, which has only a faucet, sink and an overpowering odor, is busy with residents every morning, and it is not uncommon to hear housewives arguing about who should go first.

"Many tourists and even locals wouldn't believe that there is such a dilapidated area in the city center," said Gu. "We often see foreigners taking photos here. They must be very surprised at the scene."

The 54-year-old, who works at a household appliances wholesale market, said her family of three has two plastic basins that they bought from a nearby store for less than 20 yuan ($3) each.

"Most people use basins nowadays, as wooden toilet bowls are too heavy and not easy to clean," she said.

Gu's family lives in a 13-square-meter room on the upper floor of a two-story house in Dongfeng neighborhood, Hangpu district. She said her husband is forced to sleep on the ground due to the lack of space.

She thought about inviting China Daily to her home but decided against it. "There is nothing to see at my home," she said.

"Those who can afford a better apartment have already moved out and rent their houses to others, mostly migrant workers. We don't have that much money, so we can only stay here," she said. "I always tell my 22-year-old daughter to find a husband who has a decent apartment."

About 5,600 people live in Gu's neighborhood, which is within walking distance of the luxurious hotels and restaurants on the Bund and only two minutes' walk from the Apple store on Nanjing Road.

However, wooden toilet bowls and basins are common sights in the city's old lanes, where most families have to use the old, inconvenient facilities.

"In the past 21 years, the city has dismantled some 75 million square meters of decaying buildings, which housed nearly 1.4 million families," said Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng at a news conference on Jan 16. "However, a good number of people are still living in old areas of districts such as Huangpu, Hongkou, Yangpu and Zhabei."

The city's Laodong Daily reported that nearly 80,000 households in Huangpu are still using wooden toilet bowls and basins.

Wu Xiaolin, head of Dongfeng community, told China Daily that 90 per cent of its residents have to rely on those facilities.

"Some elderly women have even suffered fractures because the wooden toilet bowls were so heavy that they fell on the public toilet's slippery floor," he said.

The only public washroom in Pentang Lane is the source of many complaints from residents.

"It's torture," said Gong, a middle-aged woman living next to the toilet who did not want to give her full name. "It's really smelly in the morning, especially between 5 am and 6 am when people wait in line to wash their basins."

Unlike most neighboring homes, Gong's has a modern, indoor bathroom with a flush toilet. It was built this year.

"I've had surgery and can't squat to use the public toilet," she added. "What's more, there are only five toilets in there. I sometimes hear people having quarrels outside, as they have to wait for a long time."

Not everyone can install a flush toilet, however. As the old neighborhood doesn't have the sewerage facilities, private bathrooms might lead to complaints from neighbors if the waste spills over into the street.

Community leader Wu said residents have been looking forward to relocation for many years, but he understands it is difficult to make their dreams come true.

"Developers may have limited profits because of the large population and high housing price in this area. The two metro lines underground are also obstacles for them to construct new buildings," he explained.

He said a neighbor's house was sold for 60,000 yuan per square meter last year, too high for most developers.

Han said that urban renovation in 2012 would move faster than last year.

"The other day, a deputy to the National People's Congress in an East Nanjing Road community told me that residents in the old areas are looking forward to reconstruction every single day," he said.

"It's very inconvenient for many of them, especially the elderly, to take a shower in the winter. I think the government must do its best to carry forward the reconstruction of old urban areas.

"We hope to complete the reconstruction of between 600,000 and 700,000 square meters of old area this year," Han added.

"More than 25,000 households, or maybe nearly 30,000 if we try harder, will be relocated."