The English of a public toilet sign near Wangjing Bridge is all capitalized.
One kilometer away, the first letter of the public toilet guide board in Sun Palace Park is capitalized and the rest is lowercase.
At night, a sign near the orchard roundabout "hides" in the lawn.
In different hutongs, the external signs of public toilets are different; One kilometer apart, the English of the guide board is not uniform; At night, the guide board is not bright, and only the light reflected by motor vehicles can be conspicuous enough … … In December 2019, this newspaper published a report on "Medical Examination Report of Public Toilets", which triggered a discussion. Some citizens have reported that there are still some details in public toilets that need to be further improved.
The reporter’s investigation found that at present, the practices of public toilets in various districts of Beijing are different in terms of external wall signs, English titles for men’s and women’s toilets, and the setting of guide boards. The public appealed whether the details could be unified and standardized. In the era of "toilet revolution", public toilets have a good "lining" and a good "face".
The logo is not eye-catching and outsiders are hard to find.
At 3 pm, people came and went in Wudaoying Hutong. There are two public toilets about 50 meters apart, and the exterior wall signs are different in configuration. The public toilets near the west, because there are signs of public toilets hanging horizontally, can be seen from a distance by people visiting hutong. In addition to the horizontal sign, there are two stainless steel signs on the front of the public toilet. One piece is written with toilet operation and maintenance information, and the other piece identifies the object that the toilet can be used. However, the public toilets near No.13 Wudaoying Hutong, which is near the east, have no signs hanging horizontally, and there is no other information except two "male" and "female" signs and a stainless steel sign at the entrance.
In the same public toilet in Shejiahu, Xicheng District, only the "male" and "female" signs and a public toilet operation and maintenance information card were posted at the entrance of the toilet. "Anyone who lives in an alley must know that it is not easy to find it from the outside without going closer." Ms. Zhang passing by said. A public toilet in Dongbeiyuan Hutong, a few tens of meters away, and a public toilet beside No.216 Xiheyan, Qianmen, which are not far apart, only posted a stainless steel operation and maintenance information card and "male" and "female" entrance cards, and there was no obvious sign on the front of the public toilet.
"The feeling is a little simple. I have seen elsewhere before that some public toilets either have signs with white characters on a blue background next to them, or there are several bronze and gold characters on the walls of public toilets, or a sign is hung obliquely on the heads of public toilets, which is easy to identify. " Mr. Dong, who works near Heping Gate, said that he found the toilet in the alley by navigation, and suggested that more eye-catching signs could be added to the public toilets.
The reporter found that at present, the number of functional signs in toilets in hutongs is different. As for the gender identification at the entrance to the toilet, it is even more varied. Some public toilets use silver or white backing signs, while others have white characters on a blue background. For men Men”“Women, some use "men" and "Women", some use "Male" and "female", and some use "male" and "women" together.
The guidance is irregular and the content is not standardized.
Compared with the toilets and gender signs on the external walls, those public toilets standing on the street can often help the public find the toilets. However, the survey found that there were no corresponding signboards on the streets around some public toilets. Some of the public toilet signboards that have been set up are "with a tail but no head", some are "with a head and no tail", and some are too close to the toilet, and the content is relatively simple.
"Master, I see the navigation says there is a toilet here. Where is it?" At 3 o’clock in the afternoon, Xiao Qin, who was visiting from other places, asked a merchant. "Just in front of you, look, there!" About 100 meters south of the entrance G of the Lama Temple subway station, it is a public toilet. However, under the uniform gray exterior wall, there are only two "male" and "female" signs about the size of an ordinary book at the entrance of the public toilet, plus a stainless steel public toilet sign. Passers-by will miss the public toilet if they are not careful. "It may be the need of street appearance, and there are no eye-catching tips on the external walls of public toilets." A nearby resident said.
The reporter started from the Lama Temple Bridge and walked south along the west side of Lama Temple Street to the public toilet. No sign was found about 300 meters away. Until you reach the intersection with Guozijian Street, you find a sign of the public toilet. On the east side of the road, there is only one public toilet, which has erected a guide board at the roadside under the Yonghe Palace Bridge, and it has been nearly 500 meters away from Guozijian Street. In a public toilet on Chengshousi Road, there is no public toilet sign on the east street about 300 meters away from the subway station. "Although there is navigation now, it is necessary to set up a guide board. I have seen signs around some public toilets about 50 meters away, but there are also some that are not even a few hundred meters away … …” Citizen Sun Fangfang said.
In addition, the reporter consulted the Code for the Construction of Public Toilets in Beijing, which pointed out that there should be guiding signs near public toilets, and the contents of guiding signs should include the identification, direction and distance of public toilets. After visiting the public toilets in many districts, it was found that the signs and directions were generally marked, but the distance was hardly marked. "Direction suggests adding some Chinese characters. What if the arrow grinds away? It is also necessary to mark how many meters away, which is a humanized service. " Sun Fangfang suggested.
Different case patterns are quite "casual"
In the investigation, the reporter found that apart from the setting distance of the guide board in public toilets, the standardization of the content of the guide board itself is also a problem. Even a short distance of one kilometer, the English case of "public toilets" on different signs is not uniform. And some signs are also very "casual", and the traditional "male left and female right" has become "female left and male right".
Near Sun Palace Park, the auxiliary road of Sun Palace Middle Road, a Public Toilet guide board with blue background and white characters is erected on the roadside, and the English initials above are "public toilet". On the roadside of Wangjing West Road, which is about 1 km along the auxiliary road of Taiyanggong Middle Road to Wangjing Bridge and about 50 meters away from Wangjing Bridge, the English signs of PUBLIC TOILETs are all capital letters, which are "public toilet".
"Most people don’t care about these spellings, do they? Unless foreign friends see it, they may make a fool of themselves. " Uncle Ning, who is exercising in Sun Palace Park, said that, in any case, the case of inconsistent English case of this signboard in short distance should be corrected.
In addition, around Tongzhou Orchard, there is a public toilet sign that looks "awkward", which also makes the surrounding residents talk about it. "This brand seems to be smaller than the general guide card, and the pattern on it is printed backwards, right?" The reporter saw at the scene that the size of the signboard is about two-thirds of that of ordinary public toilets, and the gender pattern on the signboard is opposite to that of most signboards — — The women’s pattern is on the left and the men’s pattern is on the right. There are also signs similar to the pattern of "women left and men right" on the roadside of Yonghe Palace Street.
Not only that, but the installation location of the signboard is also somewhat confusing: it is not installed on the roadside of the street, but in the park lawn about three meters away from the roadside. "This brand is small, but also ‘ Hide ’ In the flower bed lawn. Not to mention looking for a toilet at night, it is more difficult to see if you are not careful during the day! "
Can the sign light up if it needs to be "borrowed"
In the report on the "physical examination" of public toilets in early December last year, the public strongly reflected that the lights on the walls of some public toilets were dim and the roadside signs were not "glowing", so it was more difficult to find public toilets at night. In this interview, many citizens also talked about this.
"I pass here after work every day and know that there are public toilets. I can often be asked where there is a public toilet near here. " In the auxiliary road of Jingtong Expressway, there is a public toilet around Guanzhuang subway station, and a sign stands on the roadside lawn. Luo Fei, an office worker, said that the public toilet sign with white characters on a blue background was conspicuous during the day, but it was easy to see at night by the reflection of the car lights. "This brand is made of reflective materials, but it is still not as good as what I saw in some places in the south. It is better to light it directly."
The public toilets near Manchunyuan Park, near Jiushushu East Road in Tongzhou, are places where many aunts and grandmothers who come to exercise "solve" their internal emergencies. "We are all familiar with this place, but young people and newcomers are not necessarily." Uncle Shi said that the internal environment of this public toilet is clean and tidy, and the heating is sufficient, but the external lighting of the public toilet is relatively lacking.
The reporter saw at the scene that the front of the public toilet had five characters of "public toilet" with silver characters on a yellow background, and a public toilet signboard with white characters on a blue background was also hung on the wall next to the toilet. However, after entering the evening, these originally intimate settings are somewhat "ineffective". In sharp contrast to this, because there are businesses operating on the upper floor of the public toilet, after the light boxes with large characters such as "skin care modeling" are lit, the public toilet is "set off" and difficult to identify.
"I think it is necessary! Electrify the light box or guide board of the public toilet, or use some advanced scientific and technological means to make it light up at night. " Uncle Shi, who is exercising, said that public toilets, as public services in the city, can be made more convenient.
According to public reports, domestic cities have tried to set up light box signs, LED light source signs, solar-powered public toilets signs and so on. Even in cloudy days, solar signs can guarantee normal use for 2 to 3 days.
Our reporter Li Songlin Wen and photo