Bathrooms - Fish in toilet controversy

15/05/2008

Toilets in a Chinese restaurant have been criticised after stocking the urinals with ornamental fish, it has emerged.

According to Eastern Asian Economic and Trade Daily, visitors to the toilets of the restaurant in Changchun city are greeted around 20 of the aquatic creatures in the four-metre urinal trough, reports Ananova.

Experts in the country have slammed the toilet attraction as being "disrespectful" to China's love of fish keeping.

However, the restaurant has defended its unique toilets, saying that the mix of water and urine did not harm the fish and commented that they were purely for amusement, not eating.

"The water is running, and each day we change the water at least twice and add oxygen into the water. It's not much different to a fish tank," a spokesman said.

A diner told the publication that he intended to visit the restaurant again, just to experience the toilets once more.

In other Chinese-plumbing news, Ananova has also reported that a man has invented a solar water heating system from old beer bottles.

Ma Yanjun, a carpenter from Shaanxi Province, has now held 20 other families build the renewable energy device.