World’s Awkward Moment: Beijing Airport Nursing Room Located Inside Men’s Restroom

Beijing Capital International Airport is the world’s second busiest and mainland China’s largest and most strategically located international airport. Recently, however, some locals reported that when they tried to nurse their babies at Terminal 2, they were shocked to find the nursing room located inside the men’s restroom—leaving mothers feeling extremely uncomfortable.

According to Xinhua News Agency, a mother surnamed Wang was picking up someone at Terminal 2 of Beijing Capital International Airport with her child. Needing to breastfeed, she looked for the nursing room but discovered it was situated in the men’s restroom—right near the entrance and along the main path male passengers take to the toilets. “I had to feed my baby while worrying about men walking by outside. It felt really unpleasant,” Wang said, adding that she couldn’t understand why the airport would set it up this way.

Reporters from the Beijing Youth Daily visited the site and found that only Terminal 2’s nursing room is located inside the men’s restroom. In contrast, those in Terminals 1 and 3 are placed inside women’s restrooms or other separate spaces. Moreover, there were no signs indicating the presence of a nursing room outside Terminal 2’s men’s restroom, making it very difficult to find without guidance. The room was also filled with a strong smell of smoke, and cleaning staff mentioned that people often hide there to smoke.

The awkward location has deterred many mothers from using the room, with most choosing to leave after seeing where it was. Regarding this unusual design, officials from Beijing Capital International Airport explained, “It is indeed somewhat inconvenient to have the nursing room in the men’s restroom, and some parents traveling with children have expressed discomfort. But the women’s restroom is too small, so we had to place it in the men’s.”