Row over fish in urinal

Row over fish in urinal

A Chinese restaurant has been criticised - for keeping ornamental fish in a urinal.

The restaurant in Changchun city has around 20 fancy carp in the four-metre long trough in the gents' bathroom.

The Eastern Asian Economic and Trade Daily says experts have condemned the move as harmful to the fish and "disrespectful to China's fish culture".

A spokesman for the restaurant insisted the urinal contained a mixture of urine and water which was not harmful to the fish.

"The water is running, and each day we change the water at least twice and add oxygen into the water. It's not much different to a fish tank," he said.

The owner added that the fish were intended as an attraction for diners and were not used in dishes.

Guests seemed surprised to find fish swimming in the trough which has sign saying "Please urinate here" above it.

"If they didn't have the sign here I would have thought it was a new fish tank," said one diner, Mr Wang.

"It's really interesting," added another, Mr Sun, who said he was planning to use the bathroom again, just to repeat the experience.