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.
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
NINTH MONTH: There were 11,792 births in Taiwan last month and 15,563 deaths, or a mortality rate of 8.11 per 1,000 people, household registration data showed Taiwan’s population was 23,404,138 as of last month, down 2,470 from August, the ninth consecutive month this year that the nation has reported a drop, the Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday. The population last month was 162 fewer than the same month last year, a decline of 0.44 per day, the ministry said, citing household registration data. Taiwan reported 11,792 births last month, or 3.7 births per day, up 149 from August, it said, adding that the monthly birthrate was 6.15 per 1,000 people. The jurisdictions with the highest birthrates were Yunlin County at 14.62 per 1,000 people, Penghu County (8.61
RSS