Chinese toilets

[GeneChing]

Great story tho...worthy of a Hallmark movie....or maybe something more BBC.

Blenheim Palace gold toilet theft 'like heist movie'
16 September 2019

The theft of a solid gold toilet from Blenheim Palace has echoes of "a heist movie", the stately home's chief executive has said.

Dominic Hare said artist Maurizio Cattelan was "mortified" by the theft from the stately home in Oxfordshire.

Valued at $6m (£4.8m), the artwork has not been found since Saturday's early-morning raid at Blenheim - the home of the Duke of Marlborough.

A 66-year-old man who was arrested on Saturday has been released on bail.

Mr Hare told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "You always take a risk in showing art. The safest thing to do with art, I suppose, is to put it in a strongroom and lock the door.

"We think that risk is worth taking."

The fully working toilet - entitled America - went on show at the 18th Century palace on Thursday as part of an exhibition by the Italian artist.

Visitors had been invited to book three-minute slots to use the throne for its intended purpose.

Police believe a gang of thieves using at least two vehicles was responsible for the theft.


BLENHEIM PALACE
Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan says he hopes the theft is a "kind of Robin Hood-inspired action"

In an email to the New York Times, Cattelan said: "'America' was the 1% for the 99%, and I hope it still is.

"I want to be positive and think the robbery is a kind of Robin Hood-inspired action.

"I promise I have an alibi for the night."

Last month Edward Spencer-Churchill - half-brother of the Duke of Marlborough - said the toilet would not "be the easiest thing to nick".

The burglary caused "significant damage and flooding" because the toilet was plumbed into the building, police said.

Mr Hare said it was the "first theft of this type in living memory" from the stately home - the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill - adding it had "a sophisticated security system".

"But the truth is, this has happened and we are now challenged to look hard at ourselves and improve again," he said.

Blenheim Palace, a World Heritage Site, was shut on Saturday after the burglary but reopened on Sunday.

Mr Hare said the artwork - famously offered to US President Donald Trump in 2017 - was a "comment on the American dream".

"[It's] the idea of something that's incredibly precious and elite being made accessible, potentially to everybody, as we all need to go when we need to go," he said.

"And it's ironic, really, that two days after this was made accessible, it was snatched away."

Mr Hare said it was "not out of the question [the toilet] would be melted down" by the thieves.

Police have urged anyone with information to contact them.

Det Insp Jess Milne said: "Investigations are continuing and it is our main priority to locate the stolen item and the offenders involved."

[GeneChing]

The New AI Toilets Will Scan Your Poop To Diagnose Your Ailments
Navin Bondade

Well, it’s sound weird but in the upcoming future, your toilet will be your mini doctor. A company called Micron is developing a smart artificial intelligence-powered toilet that will reportedly be able to diagnose your state of health and risk of disease by analyzing your bodily waste.

The major goal of this technology is to analyze bowel movements and recognize the signs for health issues or ailments early on. This information will also use to understand early symptoms of certain diseases.

“Medicine is going toward precision medicine and precision health,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, he is the Chief Executive of Memory Chipmaker Micron Technology.

“Imagine smart toilets in the future that will be analyzing human waste in real-time every day. You don’t need to be going to visit a physician every six months. If any sign of disease starts showing up, you’ll be able to catch it much faster because of urine analysis and stool analysis.” he added.

The smart toilet is able to perform, fecal analysis and urine analysis. These are two of the most commonly-used conventional tests to determine the well-being of a patient.

The fecal analysis help diagnose certain conditions affecting the digestive tract and the urine analysis is one major way to find certain illnesses in their earlier stages like Kidney disease, Liver disease, Diabetes.

By analyzing human waste in real-time, it could be possible to generate true improvements for a person’s health care. The researcher believes that having their stool analyzed could be an excellent way that they could make sure they can have any signs of trouble spotted early on.

You will surprise to know that the poop is more made up of bacterias than old food. Around 50 to 80 % of your poop is actually bacteria that had been in your intestines and was then ejected as food passed through.

Solid and liquid bodily waste is made up of all kinds of byproducts from bodily processes such as digestion and detoxification. The concentrations of these chemical compounds can show if there is anything amiss.

Certain precursors for disease or serious ailment can be caught in stool samples.

With built-in stool analysis within a toilet, it’s possible that urine and stool analysis could take place in an ongoing sense leading to massive improvements in health and wellness for people worldwide.

The medicine on board with one of these toilets could have a series of sensors that could spot patterns. The AI systems can spot everything from diabetes symptoms to checking into the cause of various dietary concerns.

Having an ongoing analysis or diagnosis could take place onboard any smartphone or tablet device, and this could lead to people taking an active role in their health almost every day.

The company currently developing this technology has a high demand for some of its other products.

They are currently developing everything from hand-held smartphones to large-scale data centers which can all be of use for building the future of their technology.

As future smartphone devices continue to be developed in this system, it could be only a matter of time before we start to see revolutionary healthcare improvements from appliances that we would regularly use every day.

The interesting AI and diagnosis technology can help to improve the ability of any diagnosis and for making sure that we can consciously take a better approach to our healthcare no matter what our habits typically dictate.

Below are a few surprising facts about poop

Along with landing on the moon, Neil Armstrong also left four bags of poop behind.

Bill Gates helped fund the creation of “Poop Water,” which is feces turned into water.

You can see corn in your poop because of cellulose

The ideal poop is a “continuous log” and sinks to the bottom of the toilet

Poop is brown because of dead red blood cells and bile

Gut bacteria and plant fiber are essential for a good poop

I would be happier using this once a year than doing that annual occult fecal test.

[GeneChing]

Shanghai’s new “smart” bathrooms will send out warnings if you take too long pooping
You have 15 minutes to do your business and get out
by Alex Linder October 18, 2019 in News



The future has come to Shanghai and in that future you shouldn’t spend too long in the bathroom.

Around 150 “smart” public bathrooms have been built around town. These facilities boast a number of high-tech features allowing for monitoring and controlling the odor in the air, tabulating the number of visitors, and adjusting water levels.

However, the feature that is attracting the most notice is the one that keeps track of how long an individual has been inside a stall. If they spend longer than 15 minutes in there, a worker is alerted to check up on them.



The smart bathrooms are China’s latest advance in public toilet tech. Previously, the country has creeped everyone out with the installation of face recognition toilet paper dispensers at some restrooms to prevent the nationwide scourge of toilet paper theft.

[Images via Shanghai Observer]

This is too much. When bots limit the time you spend pooping, we've lost to Big Brother and Skynet is next.

[GeneChing]

Happy world toilet day!

choose your action
this world toilet day, play your part in ensuring no one is left behind without sanitation.

Learn
read eye-opening micro stories and download the factsheet

share
use our social media assets to generate debate

act
attend or hold an event and use our resources to make change happen

what is world toilet day?



world toilet day, celebrated on 19th november every year, is about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and help achieve sustainable development goal (sdg) 6, which promises sanitation for all by 2030.

Established by the world toilet organization in 2001, world toilet day was made an official un day in 2013. Un-water leads a taskforce of international agencies to campaign around a common theme.

Toilets, health and human dignity
a world toilet day message from sadhguru
“as it is important to have access to food and water, it is equally important for a human being to have access to a clean toilet to bring health, well-being and to establish human dignity.”



leaving no one behind

a toilet is not just a toilet. It’s a life-saver, dignity-protector and opportunity-maker.

Whoever you are, wherever you are, sanitation is your human right. And yet, today, 4.2 billion people live without safely managed sanitation.

How can anyone lift themselves out of poverty without sanitation? We must expand access to safe toilets and leave no one behind.

Keyfacts
4.2 billion people live without safely managed sanitation – more than half the global population.

673 million people still practise open defecation worldwide.

Globally, at least 2 billion people use a drinking water source contaminated with faeces.

Inadequate sanitation is estimated to cause 432,000 diarrhoeal deaths every year and is a major factor in diseases such as intestinal worms and trachoma.

Children under the age of five living in countries affected by protracted conflict are, on average, nearly 20 times more likely to die from diarrhoeal diseases caused by a lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene than by direct violence. (unicef 2019)

[GeneChing]

...takes me 90 seconds just to wash my hands...

Out in 90 seconds: female urinals will halve peeing time for women, says Hong Kong Toilet Association
The group says urinals, rather than new cubicles, are the answer to cutting the perennially long queues outside women’s washrooms
However, it says there’s a lack of interest by builders to conduct a pilot test of the proposal
SCMP
Kathleen Magramo
Victor Ting
Published: 8:08pm, 5 Dec, 2019


A user demonstrates the female urinal. Photo: KY Cheng

An industry group on Thursday called for female urinals to be built in Hong Kong’s public toilets to help the city combat the long waiting times faced by women to access a loo.
According to the Hong Kong Toilet Association, such facilities would cut peeing time to just 1.5 minutes, compared with the usual time of two to three minutes, and thus help to shorten queues outside women’s washrooms.
Urinals would also take up only half the space of a full cubicle, the group said, adding that the facilities could include disposable paper urine funnels to help women aim accurately, and a shelf above for bags to be hung.


Peggy Tsui, the honorary secretary of the Hong Kong Toilet Association, demonstrates how to use a female urinal. Photo: KY Cheng

“It is much more feasible to install additional female urinals than to build new cubicles, especially in smaller and older public toilets,” said the group’s vice-president Henry Hung Chi Kuen, who has a 40-year career in plumbing engineering.
However, Hung said there was a lack of interest by universities to design such a facility, and the group was also struggling to find organisations, such as event organisers, willing to conduct a pilot test of female urinals in the city.
In Germany and France, female urinals are available in temporary lavatories at events such as music festivals, but not in permanent facilities, the association said.


A paper funnel for a female urinal. Photo: KY Cheng

The association’s recommendation on Thursday came a week after the Audit Commission released a report saying that the city’s public toilets fell short of the government’s guidelines designed to ensure that for every one public toilet compartment for men, there should be two for women. The ratio was instead found to be 1.3.
The commission’s report also found the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department was not repairing defects in public restrooms quickly enough.
In February, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po had announced a HK$600 million (US$76.5 million) plan to revamp 240 public loos, about one-third of the city’s toilets, over five years.
To date, only 48 public washrooms have been renovated, a statistic slammed by the toilet association.
“At this rate, it would take 16 years to upgrade all of the toilets in the city. I hope we can speed up the process for all public toilets to a timeline of five years,” Hung said.
Why Hong Kong’s public washrooms have been dubbed ‘reservoirs of drug-resistant bacteria’
The toilet association – which includes plumbers, engineers and sanitary goods distributors – recently completed an inspection on 160 public washrooms across the city which found unsanitary levels of hygiene at some locations.
The dirtiest toilet was found to be at Pei Ho Street Market in Sham Shui Po, where the floor was slippery and had a strong odour caused by a blocked flushing system, Hung said.
The group used a “CASH” criterion – a mnemonic which stands for “Comfort, Accessibility, Safety and Hygiene” – to carry out its inspection.
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said public toilet renovations were ongoing, and not all of them required the same level of work, such as newly built ones.

Hold the phone...there's a Hong Kong Toilet Association?

[GeneChing]

Coffee machines, facial recognition are features of China’s ‘smart’ public toilet revolution

[GeneChing]

This reminds me of that Wayne Wang movie - Life Is Cheap... But Toilet Paper Is Expensive (1989)

Coronavirus: Chinese toilet paper makers say there’s ‘plenty of stock’ after panic buying in Hong Kong
Mainland manufacturers say supply hasn’t been affected and there hasn’t been a noticeable increase in orders from over the border
Researcher says city’s supply is ‘never a problem’ and stockpiling was driven by fear
SCMP
Guo Rui and Mandy Zuo in Shanghai
Published: 10:26pm, 19 Feb, 2020


A shopper stocks up on toilet rolls at a supermarket in Hong Kong on February 5 amid fears over the coronavirus outbreak. Photo: Nora Tam

Guangzhou lawyer Ding Yaqing just could not understand it when she saw images of people panic buying toilet paper over the border in Hong Kong because of the coronavirus outbreak.
“I saw [on the news] that Hong Kong people are stockpiling toilet paper,” Ding said. “But why? How could Hong Kong ever run out?”
In Haizhu district where Ding lives, the supermarkets and convenience stores are well stocked with the bathroom necessity, and there are fewer shoppers around because of measures to control the spread of the deadly virus.
For Ding, who has been working from home like many people in mainland China and Hong Kong amid the outbreak, running out of toilet paper is not a concern – she can buy it online.
“I can always order it online and my understanding is that many manufacturers have resumed production, so there is really nothing to worry about,” she said, referring to the extended break after the Lunar New Year holiday because of the epidemic.


Hongkongers have been panic buying toilet paper in recent weeks. Photo: Reuters

Toilet paper has become a highly sought after item in Hong Kong in recent weeks, with shoppers emptying supermarket shelves of the product and stockpiling tissues, disinfectant and liquid hand soap as the city braces for more cases of the virus.
The new coronavirus strain, which causes a disease now known as Covid-19, has killed more than 2,000 people and infected over 74,000, since the outbreak began in December. In Hong Kong, 63 cases have been reported and two people have died from the pneumonia-like illness.
The panic buying was apparently driven by a fear that Hong Kong would close its border with Shenzhen, disrupting the supply of daily necessities like toilet paper as mainland China struggles to control the outbreak.


Armed gang steals 600 toilet rolls as panic buying continues in Hong Kong amid coronavirus outbreak

continued next post

[GeneChing]

A spokesman for Hengan Group, a leading personal hygiene products manufacturer based in Fujian province, said even with the spike in demand from Hong Kong and the Lunar New Year break, production levels were normal.
“Our supply of toilet paper for Hong Kong has remained stable and we have plenty of stock despite the Lunar New Year holiday,” said a public relations manager for Hengan, surnamed Chen.
“We’re not changing our sales strategy [because of what’s happened in Hong Kong],” she said, adding that the company – whose toilet paper brands include Pino – had not seen any noticeable increase in orders from the city in recent weeks.
Guangdong-based Ho-Comfort, another personal hygiene products maker, also said the run on toilet paper in Hong Kong had not had any impact on its business.
Liu Yuanquan, a vice-president of the company, said while production had been stalled by the slow return to work after the Lunar New Year break, sales to Hong Kong were normal.
“Our production capacity is down by half because fewer workers have returned but our supply to Hong Kong has not been affected because the city only accounts for about 10 per cent of our output,” Liu said.


China’s delivery workers risk infection as online sales surge amid coronavirus outbreak

Guo Yukuan, a senior researcher with the China Society of Economic Reform, a state-backed think tank, said the panic buying was irrational.
“This is purely driven by panic and stress,” Guo said. “China’s production capacity [for toilet paper] can supply not just Hong Kong but the whole world, and as a free port, Hong Kong can always import from other sources,” he said. “Hong Kong’s supply is never a problem and the market will eventually adjust itself.”
Purchase the China AI Report 2020 brought to you by SCMP Research and enjoy a 20% discount (original price US$400). This 60-page all new intelligence report gives you first-hand insights and analysis into the latest industry developments and intelligence about China AI. Get exclusive access to our webinars for continuous learning, and interact with China AI executives in live Q&A. Offer valid until 31 March 2020.




Guo Rui
Guo Rui is a China reporter covering elite politics, domestic policies, environmental protection, civil society, and social movement. She is also a documentary filmmaker, recording modern Chinese history and social issues through film.

Mandy Zuo
Mandy Zuo joined the Post in 2010 and reports on China. She has covered a wide range of subjects including policy, rural issues, culture and society. She worked in Beijing before relocating to Shanghai in 2014.

THREADS
Chinese toilets
COVID-19

[GeneChing]

Why America Is Losing The Toilet Race
Planet Money
February 25, 20206:30 AM ET
GREG ROSALSKY


Toto

I just got back from my first trip to Japan, and I'm now in love with the country. The ramen, yakitori and sushi. The gorgeous volcanoes. The fascinating people and culture. But of all the things I fell in love with, there's one that I can't stop thinking about: the toilets.

Japanese toilets are marvels of technological innovation. They have integrated bidets, which squirt water to clean your private parts. They have dryers and heated seats. They use water efficiently, clean themselves and deodorize the air, so bathrooms actually smell good. They have white noise machines, so you can fill your stall with the sound of rain for relaxation and privacy. Some even have built-in night lights and music players. It's all customizable and controlled by electronic buttons on a panel next to your seat.

In Japan, these high-tech toilets are everywhere: hotels, restaurants, bus stations, rest stops and around 80% of homes. It's glorious. Then, I come back to the United States, and our toilets are stuck in the age of dirty coal mines and the horse and buggy. They basically have one feature: flush. No heated seats. No nice smells and sounds. No sanitizing blasts of liquid. It's like cleaning your dishes without water. It's gross. And it got me thinking: Why can't we have high-tech toilets too?

Most of the toilets in Japan are made by a company called Toto, which started the high-tech toilet revolution in 1980 when it unveiled the Washlet, a first-of-its-kind electric toilet seat with an integrated bidet. Toto has been innovating on the design ever since. So I reached out to the company. It put me in touch with Bill Strang, the president of corporate strategy and e-commerce at Toto USA.


The original Washlet
Toto

"U.S. toilets are effectively bedpans with a drain," says Strang. Strang is originally from the Midwest, and he joined Toto 17 years ago. That's when he had his first experience with the Washlet bidet, and it was much like mine. It began with "apprehension, a little bit of angst," he says. But then he pushed the spray button and had a joyous sensation. The bathroom would never be the same.

The Washlet has been for sale in the U.S. since 1990, but it never took off. While Toto has found success with its traditional porcelain products (and manufactures them in the U.S. and Mexico), the Washlet remains a novelty, found mostly at some high-end hotels, showrooms and Japanese restaurants.

Economists spend a lot of time analyzing how and why technology spreads from one place to another. They call it "technology diffusion." One study looked at the spread of 20 technologies across 161 countries over the last 140 years, and it found evidence that geographic distance significantly slows the spread of new gadgets. It fits with the pattern we see with high-tech toilets. Strang says that after Japan, high-tech toilets have mostly spread to nations along the Pacific Rim.

But the speed of technology dispersion has sped up significantly in the modern era. Another study found that the spread of technologies developed after 1925 has been three times faster than the spread of those developed before 1925. That makes sense, with modern transportation and communication and all. But it has been many decades since the dawn of the new toilet era in Japan, and we are still mostly sitting on old-fashioned porcelain here. "Sometimes a technology never diffuses in a given country, even if it is superior to existing technologies," says Dartmouth College economist Diego Comin, who co-authored the study.

In the end, the biggest barrier to the toilet revolution is probably not distance but cultural mores. The Japanese, Strang says, highly prize bathing, hygiene and cleanliness. When I was in Tokyo and Sapporo, it was common to see Japanese people wearing masks to prevent the spread of germs. When you go out to dinner there, you're often given a hot, moist towel or wet wipe so your hands are clean before you eat. The streets and subways are spotless, and hand-sanitizing dispensers are everywhere. It felt much different from back home.

For the last five years, Strang says, Toto has been featuring its technological innovations at the Consumer Electronics Show, and they've made a splash. The company showcased products such as its glistening Neorest NX2 dual flush toilet. It's got the standard bidet, a dryer and a heated seat with temperature control. But it also has a "tornado flush system," a "bacteria-neutralizing ultraviolet light," a "titanium dioxide-fired toilet bowl," a remote control, a toilet seat that automatically opens and closes and an air deodorizer. It costs $17,300. Other Toto toilets and seats cost much less, but the lofty price of Japanese-style toilets are another reason that they might not be catching on.

Comin says he has considered buying a Japanese-style toilet, but, he adds, "they are so darn expensive." He believes getting Americans to embrace them would require "significant investments to educate the public about the new product, marketing (for example, a commercial with George Clooney using a Japanese toilet) and bringing down the price by mass producing."

But Strang remains optimistic about the future of toilets in America. "There hasn't been a demand for this type of product in the United States," Strang says. "But there wasn't a demand for Steve Jobs to make a product called the iPhone."

Don't ever get me wrong. I'm proud to be an American. That's why I'm so saddened when we fall behind on stuff like this.

[heavens000]

In my house, the toilet is the best place. I'm ready to spend most of my life there. I just fitted it out, installed an outlet, as well as new Column radiators, which make a big difference in the design of the toilet, making it more modern. All that's left is to install a minibar and hire a butler to stand at the entrance and serve the paper. Seriously, it really is the only place where I can get away from everyone and relax completely with a coffee and a cigarette.

[GeneChing]

‘Toilet revolution’ benefits the most vulnerable in China, reflects CPC’s focus on people’s well-being: expert
By GT staff reporter
Published: Aug 28, 2022 08:49 PM


Construction workers build public toilets in Ping'an village in Dongyang, East China's Zhejiang Province, on December 19, 2018. Photo: IC

In recent years, the "toilet revolution" has continued to advance in China, greatly improving the quality of people's life and contributing to the country's development of ecological civilization and rural revitalization.

"The toilet issue is not only related to the improvement of the tourist environment, but also a key barometer of social advancement. More importantly, it reflects the importance the Party attaches to human rights," Lou Xiaoqi, executive president of the Capital Civilizational Development Foundation, a Beijing-based NGO, told the Global Times.

Lou, also the president of magazine Civilization, has promoted a toilet revolution in Beijing since 1993. "China's delicacies are world-renowned, but China's public toilets are notorious" in the 1980s and 1990s, these "buzzwords" about China's toilets were still fresh in Lou's mind.

It has been more than 30 years since China started the "toilet revolution," and Beijing was among the first to initiate the campaign.

During this period, as China's economy developed rapidly, cities expanded at breakneck speed, and the construction of new countryside advanced by leaps and bounds, but the small problem of adequate sanitation still bothers many domestic residents and foreign visitors.

The toilet revolution is more a systemic issue concerning the respect for people, the care for vulnerable groups such as women, children and the elderly, and the development of today's civilization, Lou told Global Times.

Nowadays, modern toilets in the country are gradually matching up with the influence and status of China as the second largest economy in the world.

Odor-free and convenient for the disabled, today's toilets in most Chinese cities are equipped with compartments and provide toilet paper and hand sanitizer.

As women's toilets are continually being expanded across tourist sites, and mother-and-baby rooms are made more available, and high technologies are more widely adopted, every aspect of progress in toilets reflects the focus of the Communist Party of China (CPC) on the most basic and detailed aspects of people's well-being, Lou said.

"This means that China has reached a relatively advanced stage of socioeconomic development with the ability to protect vulnerable groups, pay attention to the core shortcomings of livelihood issues, and make sure vulnerable groups can enjoy the fruits of modern development and public resources equally," Lou said. "This is the basic logic behind the CPC's commitment to protecting human rights."

In the future, the efforts of China's rural construction and toilet revolution won't cease but require further innovation. By actively adopting new technologies and materials, China should construct specialized facilities that truly fit in local with conditions in a more scientific way, he noted.

Anyone know what toilet revolution is in mandarin?
厕所革命 Cèsuǒ gémìng?
I was told cesuo is a crude way of saying toilet but this is what googtrans came up with...

[GeneChing]

Going potty: toilet mania in Hong Kong and the city’s US$3.5 million solid gold ‘throne’ built as a shrine to hero of Russian revolution
As Hong Kong names its best and worst public conveniences, we reflect on city’s golden toilet bowl built in honour of Russian Bolshevik, Vladimir Lenin
The solid-gold ‘throne’ was housed in a golden complex built with two tonnes of the precious metal worth a whopping US$38 million

Kylie Knott
Published: 2:00pm, 24 Dec, 2022


Following the recent unveiling of Hong Kong’s best and worst public conveniences, we reflect on a record-breaking solid-gold toilet bowl which used to be a top tourist attraction in the city. Photo: SCMP composite
Hong Kong recently unveiled a list of its best – and worst – public toilets, with the Peak Tower, a shopping complex popular with tourists, winning the gold medal.
But the city has another gold standard loo-related achievement, Hong Kong holds the Guinness World Record for the most expensive toilet bowl, a golden creation worth HK$27 million (US$3.5 million).
The solid-gold “throne” formed part of a gaudy jewellery showroom built using two tonnes of the precious metal which carried an overall price tag US$38 million.
Swisshorn Gold Palace, which was also known as The Golden House and the Hall of Gold, was in the city’s Kowloon area and it boasted a floor-to-ceiling gold design, including a gold horse-drawn chariot, gold chandeliers and life-size gold statues. Even the cutlery and crockery was gold.

The late Lam Sai-wing, former chairman of Hang Fung Gold Technology Group, sits in his US$38 million golden showroom in Hong Kong’s Kowloon area. Photo: Dickson Lee
But behind a door with engraved pharaohs, Greek gods and harp-playing angels, stood the palace’s crown jewel: a fully functional solid gold toilet.
After opening to the public in September 2006, it attracted thousands of visitors a day, mostly tourists from mainland China. The venue was also hired out for weddings and corporate events.
The man with the Midas touch behind the project was entrepreneur Lam Sai-wing who moved to Hong Kong from Guangdong province in southern China when he was 21 and went on to become chairman of the jewellery-making company Hang Fung Gold Technology.

The now no longer complex featured gold furniture, gold toilets and gold ceiling relief sculptures, using up a total of two tonnes of the precious metal. Photo: Dickson Lee
Lam wanted to build a shrine to his boyhood hero, Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, who had said that after the victory of socialism, gold should be used to make toilets.
“It has been my dream to build this since I was 16 years old. Now it has come true,” said Lam in a story published in the Post in 2002.
“I’m a capitalist with socialist principles,” he said at the time, adding: “This toilet is for the public, I wouldn’t have one at home.”
But in 2008, the economy - and Lam’s company - was hit by the fallout from the global financial crisis.
What wasn’t suffering, however, was the price of gold: in 2008 it had reached an all-time record of US$1,011 dollars an ounce, a rise of more than 50 per cent in just nine months.

Hong Kong is home to some superb public conveniences. The Peak Tower Public Toilets won the gold medal of the best public convenience of the year for 2022. Photo: Dickson Lee
Media reports said Lam was unable to resist the rush, and started melting down pieces from his beloved palace, raising cash to fuel his ambitious growth plans in China. He was reported to have said that he would never melt down his cherished commode.
But it all came crashing down on September 26, 2008, when Lam died suddenly at his luxury flat in Hong Kong. He was just 53.
“People close to Lam were taken by surprise because he had appeared healthy and played tennis recently,” read his obituary, published in the Post the following day.
The golden palace shut its doors. His death also shed light on the dire state of his company’s finances.
But the drama did not end there: several company executives were accused of stealing millions of dollars worth of gold bars.
A year after Lam’s death, the debt-ridden company was wound up. What happened to the golden toilet remains a mystery.

CONVERSATIONS
Kylie Knott
After many years with the Post, Kylie Knott found her calling on the culture and lifestyle desk. She writes about the environment, animal welfare, food and the arts.

The mystery of the golden throne might make a good Knives Out threequel...

[Victor708S]

Chinese toilets are the comfiest and cheapest I guess

[GeneChing]

China has had flush toilets for 2400 years and yet finding one in China is still a challenge?

2,400-year-old flush toilet discovered in China could be one of the oldest ever
Updated 21st February 2023


The unearthed flush lavatory, which is comprised of a toilet bowl and sewage system, excavated from the Yueyang site in Xi'an, China.
Credit: Xinhua/Shutterstock

Written by Tara Subramaniam, CNN
Hong Kong
Archeologists in China have found the remains of what may be the world's oldest known flush toilet.
Broken parts of the 2,400-year-old lavatory, as well as a bent flush pipe, were unearthed last summer by a research team among ancient palace ruins in the Yueyang archaeological site in the central city of Xi'an, according to Chinese state media.
Details of the find were released last week, sparking widespread interest in China and offering a rare insight into the privileged and comparatively advanced world of the country's ancient ruling elite.
Described by researchers as a "luxury object," the toilet was thought to have been located inside the palace, with a pipe leading to an outdoor pit, according to state-owned China Daily.
Liu Rui, a researcher at the Institute of Archeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who was part of the excavation team, told state media the toilet would have likely been reserved for high-ranking officials during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) and the later Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). He added that servants would likely have poured water into the toilet bowl every time it was used.
"The flush toilet is concrete proof of the importance the ancient Chinese attached to sanitation," Liu said, adding that there were very few records of indoor toilets in ancient times.
Archaeologists uncover ancient tombs of wealthy Chinese clan
Access to clean, flush toilets remain an issue in parts of modern China. Early in his tenure, Chinese leader Xi Jinping promised to "revolutionize" the country's restrooms, as part of efforts to improve rural hygiene.
"The toilet issue is no small thing, it's an important aspect of building civilized cities and countryside," Xi said in an article in the state-owned People's Daily in 2018. "This work should be advanced as a specific task of rural revitalization and such shortcomings that affect the quality of people's life should be filled with great efforts."
Prior to the newly announced discovery, the invention of the first flush toilet was widely credited to English courtier John Harington, who supposedly installed one for Queen Elizabeth in the 16th century, though 4,000-year-old drainage systems that might have been connected with toilets have been found in northwest India.
The ruins from Yueyang, the former capital of Qin State and later the first capital of the Han Dynasty, were discovered in the 1980s. The recent find is part of a broader effort to understand ancient Chinese dynasties, including how people lived and how their cities were constructed, the Institute said in a statement announcing the discoveries.
Archaeologists are now analyzing soil samples collected from the toilet in hopes of finding out what people ate during that time, according to China Daily.

Top image caption: The unearthed flush lavatory, which is comprised of a toilet bowl and sewage system, excavated from the Yueyang site in Xi'an, China. Credit: Xinhua/Shutterstock