Four toilets from the Chungyo Department Store in Greater Taichung were featured on a list of the world’s top 10 public restrooms recently announced by the UK-based Cheapflights Web site.
The list, released to celebrate Toilet Day on Nov. 19, featured themed Taiwanese toilets alongside restrooms from New Zealand, Alaska, Japan, Texas and countries throughout Europe.
According to Chungyo Department Store, it began renovation on 16 of its 49 public restrooms in 2003 and planned to give each of them a different theme.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
The renovated bathrooms have attracted hordes of tourists, many of whom take pictures inside the elaborately decorated rooms. The toilets have also been covered in Time magazine.
The four themed restrooms chosen by the Cheapflights Web site were “Secret Garden” on the 12th floor of the department store complex’s Building A, “Under the Sea” on the seventh floor of Building C, “Coca Cola” on the 10th floor of Building A, and “Heineken” on the sixth floor of Building A.
The department store’s “Shadow and Light” bathroom received the Greater Taichung County Government Lifetime Achievement award for cleanliness based on it consistently receiving an A+ rating in the city government’s Environmental Protection Bureau public restroom assessments.
On Thursday, the department store announced the opening of two more newly renovated themed restrooms — “Sweet Chocolate” on the third floor of Building A and “Romantic Burgundy” on the second floor of Building C.
The department store said the design of the “Sweet Chocolate” room is based on the candy house from the Hansel and Gretel fairy tale, while “Burgundy” was based on the color burgundy, adding that it hoped to attract more tourists to the store and netizens to its Web site.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS