Toilets in Shanghai, Chongqing and Beijing are tops with tourists

A staff worker displays a model of the smart toilet lids in Hangzhou's manufacturing district of Xiasha, March 9, 2015.[Photo/CFP]

Toilet conditions at tourist attractions need to be improved nationwide, and the cities having the best toilets for tourists are Shanghai, Chongqing and Beijing, according to a survey report released by the China Tourism Academy (CTA) last week.

The first quarter, nationwide tourist satisfaction survey by CTA shows that the overall feedback to toilet conditions throughout the country is "acceptable", a grade that is lower than the quarter before and for the same period last year.

According to historical data, the satisfaction index among individual tourists is lower than among tourist groups.

Among the rated cities, those in eastern China tend to have higher scores; cities in central and western China are less competitive in terms of toilet conditions.

The top 10 cities according to the report are: Shanghai, Chongqing, Beijing, Tianjin, Ningbo, Shenyang, Chengdu, Yantai, Nanjing and Qingdao. CTA is affiliated with the China National Tourism Administration.

Sanitary toilet conditions and a greater number of public toilets at tourist attractions can help boost tourism in a country, according to The World Toilet Organization via Xinhua.

China will build 13,000 new toilets and renovate another 9,000 in 2015 at tourist sites to upgrade the notorious facilities, tourism authorities announced in February.

The campaign is part of China's three-year "toilet revolution", aimed at building a total of 33,000 restrooms and renovating 24,000 by 2017, according to the China National Tourism Administration.

Local tourism authorities are also urged to consider the special needs of the elderly, women, children and the disabled when building and renovating toilets.