 Pig toilets ( "zhūquānmáokēng") were once common in rural China, where a single Chinese ideogram () signifies both "pigsty" and "privy".Funerary models of pig toilets from the Han dynasty (206 BC to AD 220) prove that it was an ancient custom.These arrangements have been strongly discouraged by the Chinese authorities in recent years, although as late as 2005 they could still be found in remote northern provinces.