But How Will We Know? National Tourism Administration to Dump Public Toilet Star Ratings

Your opportunities to use a five-star toilet are running out. The National Tourism Administration (NTA) has announced it will flush its current public toilet rating system, in favor of a new, non-star protocol later this year. 

Instead, the rating system will become 1A to 3A, with 1A being where you will ask your visiting mother to wait until you get home, to 3A, where, while you may not want to eat maple walnut ice cream off the floor, it will be sufficiently clean to be satisfactory for general use. 

The NTA said it was voiding its earlier ratings because the star system emphasized size and luxury of the facilities, rather than cleanliness and functionality. We also wonder if there isn't a whiff of the anti-corruption campaign in all of this, which has sought to wipe ostentatious luxury away in favor of practicality, and even has five-star hotels seeking to downgrade to four stars in order to retain some government business.

The NTA also said it will increase the number of public facilities in tourist areas. It's nice that they give a crap.

Photo: www.umich.edu