Tourists disgusted by stinking toilets at Chinese tourist sites or even angrier because they can't locate it are in for a pleasant surprise in east China -- a "restroom revolution" is taking shape before their eyes and noses.

With its eyes on a burgeoning tourism industry, Shandong province has vowed to build "4-star" restrooms.

Eco-friendly four-star mother-and-baby restrooms in Qianfoshan Park of Jinan, Shandong's capital, come equipped with waist-high tables where young mothers can change their babies.

   A five-star toilet in Weihai hums to the sound of light music. The painting on the wall and flowerpots in the corner add to the charm.

"You feel comfortable in a toilet like this," said a tourist from Zhejiang province who only identified himself as Mr. Wang. "Toilets are the mirror of a region's civilization."

To date, Shandong has built some 350 such luxury toilets, with the provincial government expected to order another 1,000 over the next five years.

Toilets in tourist attractions in China have tended to cast something of a shadow over the country's tourism industry.

A survey of people's opinions of China's 11 most famous tourism sites showed that more than fifty percent of domestic tourists are dissatisfied. As for foreign visitors, only a tiny three percent say they are satisfied with the toilets.

Shandong is one of the most criticized areas. "If the problem is not addressed, I am not going to bring visitors to Shandong anymore," said an angry travel agency boss who declined to be named.

Some smelly toilets were jokingly referred to as "a pit under a shed". "I can sniff out the toilet," the boss said scathingly.

Scarcity is another problem.

According to Lai Zhengyu, vice director of the tourism bureau of Shandong, tourism sites are usually under-equipped. Few conform to the capacity standard set by the National Tourism Administration -- 0.3 percent of daily tourist numbers.

An example given by Lai was an eight-square-kilometer forest park that receives as many as 50,000 people in its midseason. But there are only five toilets in the park -- one for every 10,000 people, assuming you are lucky enough to find it.

Shandong is an agricultural province and farming areas are traditionally not overly concerned by toilets, said Lai.

With 510 tourism attractions including the hometown of Confucius and Mount Tai, Shandong saw 167 million domestic tourists in 2006 and 1.93 million others from overseas.

Another 1,000 toilets are to be built in the next five years, and mobile toilets will be installed to cope with peak tourist times, said the official.