Beijing toilets 北京公厕新规

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北京市政府颁发法令，规定任何时候公共卫生间都不能出现两只以上的苍蝇。这仅是政府机构为了改善城市公共厕所而制定的一系列新规则中的一项措施。

请听BBC 记者Michael Bristow 发回的报道。

Six city departments have put their heads together to come up with the new rules. They cover cleaning, the use of equipment and training for attendants.

No public toilet should have more than two flies buzzing around - although the regulations don't state how that's to be checked. There's also an ordinance covering what's confusingly referred to as "discarded items". There should be no more than two of these left in any public convenience.

The new standards also detail how smelly a lavatory should be. Most people who've paid a visit to a Beijing public toilet, know at the moment they're very pungent indeed.

Of course, there is a serious side to these new regulations. Many people who live in the city's old neighbourhoods still don't have their own toilet and have no choice but to use public conveniences. For them, these rules might make an unavoidable daily necessity, a touch more palatable.