Featured Image Credit: Reddit
Topics: China, Reddit, Technology
Dan Seddon
Reddit users have been left gobsmacked by newly introduced technology throughout Chinese public toilets.
A clip shared by China Insider featured one person scanning a QR code on the toilet roll dispenser before they're forced to endure a short advertisement.
When the commercial had finished, several squares of paper got released.
If you need some more paper and don't want to have to sit through another ad, this rather inconvenient machine charges users the equivalent of 6 cents to skip.
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Despite the dystopian undertones, the system is supposed to cut down on wastage as authorities believe people take more from the free rolls than they really need to.
It's since been described as Black Mirror-esque on forum site Reddit.
"Black Mirror stuff," read one response to a news story linked on the platform.
"Brown Mirror" and "Sometimes yellow mirror" were two jokey add-ons from readers.
Then came a wave of fairly impassioned criticism, with Reddit users keen to double down on their principles.
"This would last about 5 seconds in America before it got smashed and the paper was just forcefully taken out," wrote somebody.
"I would smash it on principle, and I'm pretty sure I have a key on my keyring capable of opening it," threatened another.
"I'd bring my own paper and smash the dispenser on principle," echoed a third perturbed individual.
On the flip side, there's cultural context to be understood and acknowledged here.
Plenty of people reading the surprising toilet-y insight were aware that China rarely dispenses free paper across its public bathrooms.
"Lived in China for 7 years, this is an improvement," one of them revealed. "The vast majority of public toilets won't have toilet paper. You carry around a pack yourself."
According to a tourist on Trip Advisor, and more travellers on the internet, it is generally recommended to carry around toilet paper, as it may not always be provided.
"Toilet paper is not scarce, it is not just not supplied in many public toilets", they explained. "Where to put the paper depends on the sewage system to which the toilet in connected. Not an issue in hotels, modern shopping malls but an issue in older building. When required, there is usually a sign telling you to put it in the bin."
Another even said that soap might not be a given, writing: "FYI, soap is also generally not provided anywhere except hotels and possibly very nice businesses (...). We learned quickly our first day in China to always carry small packages of tissues (available in any grocery or convenience store) and bottles of hand sanitizer (a bit harder to find in stores, so we always bring it from the USA) everywhere we went."