A public toilet will be available every 300 meters in downtown Shanghai in five years, meeting the 2010 World Expo requirements.

According to the two-day World Toilet Expo and the 2005 Toilet Forum, which ended Tuesday in Shanghai, the 2010 World Expo will see 140 million tourists from home and from abroad, including nearly 80 million visitors to the 180-day event.

To help accommodate the visitors the toilet network program was developed. Under the program, a toilet will be available within 300 meters inside the inner ring road and within 800 meters inside the outer ring road in Shanghai. At least 3 toilets will be arranged every one square kilometer in the city proper. Meanwhile, special requirements of different ethnic and religious groups have been taken into account in the program.

Local public sanitation authority says Shanghai has 3,468 public latrines, providing services for 1.1 million people every day. Tourist guide for toilet distribution in text, digital and voice forms are now available in the city.

(Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2005)