A park in Beijing started a trial to save toilet paper and stop thieves from stealing it. The Temple of Heaven Park installed six facial recognition scanners. These will scan people's face before giving them 60 cm of toilet paper. A person will have to wait for nine minutes if they want extra paper. A park spokesman said there was a problem of park visitors taking too much toilet paper. He said some people came and filled their bags with it. The park had put up posters and put messages over loudspeakers asking visitors to use less toilet paper.
The facial recognition scanners have brought a surprise. They have become a tourist attraction. Visitors are coming to try out the machines. Videos of people taking toilet paper from the machines have gone viral on social media. Park staff still help people with problems using the machines or those who urgently need more toilet paper. The scanners seem to be popular. A user on a Chinese social media site wrote: "This is a really good idea. I recommend that it be rolled out in toilets nationwide." The trial is a success so far. The daily amount of toilet paper used has gone down by 20%.