介绍:
WiFi、ATM、充电、空调一个都不能少，如此厕所你敢信？
LW: Bathrooms in Beijing have gotten an upgrade. Wu You, why have we decided to talk about bathrooms?
WY: So you can see this is a digitalized era, and they are making the toilets digitalized.
LW: Why? Why have they decided to do this? This is a ludicrous idea.
WY: Beijing has launched a campaign to improve the city’s public restrooms. It is aimed at renovating and upgrading over 19,000 public washrooms across the city. So what are the improvements? The new measures include that users can browse their smartphones in a completely WiFi signal-covered area.
LW: Why do you need WiFi in the toilet?
WY: People might need to see a movie.
LW: How long are you in there for that you need the WiFi?
NL: A toilet has a very clear function in my mind. It is a place where you go not to spend extra time.
WY: You know, nowadays we seem to be very busy, not only with computers but also with phones. Maybe they are so busy they want to do multi-tasking inside the washrooms.
LW: Okay. Let’s break this down. So obviously this is addressing an issue. There were certain public toilets that needed to be upgraded, that needed to be made more hygienic, as it were. Those are the ones that are being fixed. That’s not the only upgrade, is it?
WY: There could be even better ones. You can see there may also be ATMs in the toilets.
LW: Unbelievable. Why? Why do you need the ATM there? Nick?
NL: I cannot answer this question. I mean, what is there to buy?
WY: But you can have the cash.
LW: What, for if you run out of toilet paper? You can use it for that?
WY: But I have to say that other facilities, like charging facilities, are also available on the site, for cellphones and also electric vehicles.
LW: So hang on, the way I’ve been looking at it is, I’ve been seeing a regular Beijing toilet, just with WiFi and an ATM in the corner. I haven’t built this whole new Matrix-esque system. So this is a completely new and different complex altogether?
NL: So what I’m now imagining is a facility which has car-charging facilities, WiFi, ATMs, and also just happens to have a toilet.
WY: The toilet can be the main task.
NL: But it’s not! That takes the least time out of all the things we’ve just listed.
WY: So this is more like a luxury toilet.
NL: So let’s picture the scene. I’m out and about, in my electric car. I roll up at this public toilet, I think ‘great, there’s a toilet here, I can plug in my car’. I get out, I go into the toilet, I plug in my phone, I get out some cash, I’m surfing the internet …
LW: Yeah, you’re not going to the toilet. You don’t need that any more.
WY: And I’m not finished.
LW: Oh wow. How is this possible?
WY: You can see, by the door, there are vending machines selling bottled drinks.
NL: At least this answers the question of what we need the money for.
LW: Exactly!
WY: Furthermore, an air conditioning system will be installed to ensure a stable temperature of at least twelve degrees Celsius in winter and no higher than thirty degrees Celsius in summer.
NL: These public toilets sound better than my house.
LW: You might have to move in there, Nick, get a bed out.
NL: I can just sleep in my electric car!
LW: You can sleep in your electric car, outside, you have everything! You have all the amenities of home, in fact even better. I bet the WiFi’s cracking, as well, it’s much better than my WiFi. It’s so slow, I have to refresh everything all the time.
NL: It’s subsidized by the local authorities!
LW: Unbelievable. I guess I’ll try one over the weekend and let you guys know. I don’t know about you guys, but my weekend is sorted.
