5 Shanghai bathrooms you should be busting to use
"Everyone uses the bathroom, so the experience is important. No matter how cool the venue is, people will remember if the bathroom sucked," says operations manager Rachel Zheng from M1NT Shanghai, home to one of the hottest restrooms in town.
From high-tech Japanese toilets to mind-altering neon light lavatories, we’ve rounded up some of the best bathrooms in town -- the ones you need to see, er, use to believe.
1. Park Hyatt lobby bar
When it comes to cool commodes, the Japanese do it best, which is why you’ll want to spend time in this private bathroom designed by New Yorker Tony Chi.
Open the heavy soundproof door and, hey presto, the toilet lid pops open. You can then answer nature’s call while experimenting with the range of (some may say pleasurable) functions that will spray, wash and dry your bits at the click of a button -- perfect for soothing the after-effects of a spicy Chinese banquet.As guest Eleanor Heaney told us, "Once you go Japanese, you’ll never go back."
87/F, 100 Century Avenue, 世纪大道100号87楼, tel +86 21 3855 1428, shanghai.park.hyatt.com
2. Jade on 36 bar
Easily confused with a futuristic time-travel capsule or part of a Hollywood alien invasion film, the Pudong Shangri-La's futuristic bathroom in the Jade on 36 bar is the brainchild of New York designer Adam Tihany.
"The bathroom’s intimate cylindrical shape and surrounding light tubes represent a journey or time-travel experience," explains Tihany.
"One feels the surreal possibility of being propelled up into space."
Well, he got his message across. Behind the door of a floor-to-ceiling metal cylinder is a restroom with a toilet, cylindrical sink and a psychedelic mix of red and green neon lights running across the walls. Lock the door, plug in your iPod and let the rave for one begin.
36/F, Pudong Shangri-La, 33 Fucheng Lu, near Lujiazui Xi Lu 富城路33号浦东香格里拉大酒店2座36楼, 近陆家嘴西路, tel +86 21 6882 8888, www.shangri-la.com
3. People's 7
Don't leave your first trip to this Shanghai bathroom until the last minute. Trust us.
Although designed by Japanese architect Miura Sakae, the bathrooms themselves aren't as notable as how you actually get in. Face with two dimly lit hallways and six industrial metal doors, you feel like a contestant on cult Japanese game show, "Takeshi’s Castle."
When you try the door knobs, the doors appear locked. If we tell you any more, we'll ruin the fun. Who would’ve thought a bathroom could provide so much entertainment?
805 Julu Lu, near Fumin Lu 巨鹿路805号, 近富民路, tel +86 21 5404 0707
4. M1NT Restaurant
You’re 24 floors up, locked in a luxurious, self-contained bathroom with room enough for at least two -- seven square-meters to be exact.
There’s a set of mirrors to one side and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the city’s rooftops on another. Now if that’s not enough to get your heart racing, we don’t know what is.
24/F, 318 Fuzhou Lu, near Shandong Lu 福州路318号24楼, 近山东路, tel +86 21 6391 2811, www.M1NT.com.cn
5. Art Lab at MoCA
At first glance, you wonder what’s so special about these toilets, apart from a series of swirly patterns printed on the tiled walls. Take a closer look at those patterns and you’ll discover that they're actually tirades of obscenities about life scrawled on the tiles.
Conceived by Chinese artist Tsang Kin-Wah especially for Art Lab, the art is entitled "Pretty S**t -- Piss Pretty."
As Kin-Wah explains, "The s**t is everywhere, even at your most private moment and space ..." Think on that while you’re on the loo.
Gate 7, People's Park, 3/F, 231 Nanjing Xi Lu, near Xinchang Lu 南京西路231号人民公园7号4楼, 近新昌路, tel +86 21 6327-0856, www.mocashanghai.org
