The administration has forecast that China's tourism market will generate more than $760 billion in revenue in 2017, up from the $683 billion in 2016.

Feng Min, 57, a tourist from Shenzhen, Guangdong province, said it was not easy to find a toilet when she visited Xi'an recently, and the one she did find had a bad odor.

Wu Yihui, a retired tour guide, said foreign tourists he worked with in the late 1980s would return to the hotel for the bathroom since even toilets in museums were not clean.

"Now, the city's public toilets are much easier to find and cleaner, but there is still room for improvement," Wu said.

The central government has set a national standard for toilet management, which covers layout, hygiene and evaluation indexes for odor.

Xi'an authorities said that all toilets in the city's public area and at tourism attractions and facilities should meet the national standard.

The city will also encourage businesses frequented by the public, governmental organs and institutions to open their toilets to the public free of charge.

"With increasing contact with the rest of the world, we should pay a lot of attention to the issue of toilets, which reflects a city's friendship, social development and cultural atmosphere," said Zhang Baotong, an expert in social and economic development with the China Academy of Social Sciences' Shaanxi branch.