Overview
- Footage shared by China Insider shows users scanning a QR code and watching a short ad before a dispenser releases a small amount of paper.
- Reports say people can pay 0.5 RMB to skip the advertisement or to obtain additional paper without viewing more ads.
- Viewers criticized the setup as unhygienic and undignified, citing problems if a phone is dead, connectivity is poor, or no digital payment is available.
- Several outlets note that many Chinese public toilets historically do not supply toilet paper, and travelers often carry their own tissues.
- The ad-based model follows earlier controls such as 2017 facial-recognition dispensers at Beijing’s Temple of Heaven that limited the length of each dispense with staff able to provide extra in urgent cases.