A resident cleans a chamber pot outside her home on Tingxi Road in downtown Shanghai's Huangpu district. GAO ERQIANG / CHINA DAILY

There are even public toilets in Shanghai that are equipped with electronic screens that show how long a person has been inside a cubicle. Besides informing other users whether a cubicle is currently being used, this system allows toilet staff to check on those who have been in the cubicle for unusually long periods of time.

But administrators are still not quite satisfied with the current state of Shanghai's toilets. Zhang Feng, director of Shanghai's environmental quality monitoring center, said that one of the major goals in the next three years would be to significantly increase the number of unisex toilets. There are currently only about 250 of them.

He noted that such toilets would be able to cut down waiting time at the women's toilets and be beneficial to families with senior citizens and underage children who require assistance to relieve themselves.

Wu Jianguo, inspector at Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration, said during a government meeting at the beginning of December that the city should look to increase the number of public toilets and improve user experiences over the next three years. Improving the standard of public restrooms, enhancing management and services, adopting technology and educating users were also cited as priorities.

Shanghai is not the first to place emphasis on the upgrading of public toilets. Over in Germany, Hans Wall, the founder of Berlin-based outdoor advertiser Wall AG, has been infusing color into toilets in the country since the early 1990s, turning many of them into landmarks. Some of these restrooms have become so renowned internationally that major companies such as Apple, Samsung and Chanel have featured them in their commercials.

It is estimated that such toilets in five European cities, including Berlin and Frankfurt, generate at least 30 million euros ($35 million) in profit every year.