Are public toilets free, and easy to find?
Short answer
Free and common — on the street, in malls, offices, supermarkets and fast food places. Carry your own paper.
They are free, and there are a lot of them
Free public toilets are easy to find on the street as well as inside office buildings, shopping centres, supermarkets, hotels and fast food restaurants. Beijing's own visitor guidance lists all of those as ordinary options rather than emergencies.
That breadth is the useful fact. You are rarely more than a block from something usable, so this is not a thing to plan a day around.
Two styles, sometimes in the same room
A restroom may have squat toilets, western-style seats, or a mix of both. Which you get is not predictable from the outside, and a row of cubicles can contain either.
If you have a preference, the western seat is more common in newer buildings, malls and hotels, and less common in older street facilities.
The one thing to carry
Some squat-style facilities do not supply toilet paper, and the official advice is to carry your own. A small packet of tissues in a day bag removes the problem entirely and is what most people here do anyway.
Hand soap is usually there, but carrying sanitiser or wet wipes is a sensible convenience rather than a necessity.
Good to know
- Carry tissues — some squat facilities have no paper
- Malls, offices, supermarkets and fast food places all count as options
Free, everywhere, and clean. Stations, parks, convenience stores and department stores all have one.
Free and easy to find. Every subway station has one, and cafés and department stores are relaxed about it.