A special mirror installed in a bar in China is controversial. The men’s and women’s bathrooms are separated by this mirror, so you can peek into the women’s bathroom from the men’s room.
On January 22, 2023, according to the Chinese portal Sina.com, a video filmed in the bathroom of a bar in downtown Guilin, Guangxi Province was released on SNS (social media).
In the video, the wall between the women’s bathroom and the men’s bathroom is made of a special mirror.
This special mirror was made by coating only one side of the transparent glass with metal. Most of the light is reflected on the metal-coated side, making it difficult to see the other side. They are also called one-way mirrors or magic mirrors.
In the video, female customers use the bathroom as usual, looking in the mirror in front of the washbasin and tidying up their clothes. As the camera moved to the men’s room on the other side, the mirror became transparent like glass.
This special mirror was installed above the urinal in the men’s bathroom. The intent is to peek into the women’s bathroom while urinating. Women looked in the mirror and trimmed their clothes without knowing this fact.
Netizens who watched the video were outraged with reactions such as “There are no toilet cubicles in China?? .
Some claimed that the washbasin with the mirror was ‘public’, not for women only. Then netizens pointed out, “What’s important is that the sink is shared. Anyway, it’s a crime.”
When the controversy erupted, the city of Guilin, who was reported to, suspended the bar business and terminated the operating license.
On the other hand, in China, there were often cases where such special mirrors were installed and discovered.
In 2021, at a bar in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, controversy arose when it was known that a special mirror was installed in front of the washbasin in the women’s bathroom of the VIP room. In 2018, a similar incident occurred in the men’s restroom of a bar in Beijing, for which the owner publicly apologized. In Beijing in 2016, a landlord installed a special mirror in the bathroom and was discovered and reported by a tenant.
There was a controversy over the special mirror not only in China but also in Korea. In 2021, at a manufacturing factory in Pocheon, a special mirror was installed so that the boss might see the shower, and was caught by the police with a report from a foreign worker. When the police investigation began, a fire of unknown cause broke out and destroyed the factory and dormitory. Some have raised suspicions that the employer deliberately set fire to destroy evidence.
As such incidents often occur, methods for identifying special mirrors are also being shared. The most typical way is to shine a light near a mirror. Because it is coated on only one side of the glass, it takes advantage of the fact that the light is not completely reflected. In the case of a special mirror, there is a high probability that some light will pass through and the silhouette on the other side will be visible.
