Stealing of toilet tissue, Park in China install face recognition tissue dispenser.

These Chinese people are taking technology everywhere incuding the toilet. A park in Beijing has installed toilet paper dispensers with facial recognition to stop visitors from taking too much toilet roll, media reports say.

Machines at the Temple of Heaven park scan visitors' faces before dispensing a fixed length strip of paper.The tourist attraction is reportedly frequented by visitors who take large amounts of toilet roll home.

It has reignited debate over the lack of social graces among some Chinese. Park officials have installed six machines at its public bathrooms in a half-month trial, with staff on standby to explain the technology to visitors.

The park has retained its existing toilet roll dispensers. The new machines, placed at the average heights for men and women, dispense strips of toilet paper measuring about 60 to 70cm (24 to 27.5 inches) to each person.

They will not dispense more paper to the same person until after nine minutes have passed

"If we encounter guests who have diarrhoea or any other situation in which they urgently require toilet paper, then our staff on the ground will directly provide the toilet paper," a park spokesman said.

The park also upgraded the toilet paper's quality from one-ply to two-ply. When some tourist visited, the toilet staff member said they were not in use as there were not many visitors in the park that day.

Earlier this month, Chinese media reported that visitors to the Temple of Heaven park's toilets were taking excessive amounts of toilet paper, some of whom were seen stuffing their bags. It has put up posters as well as broadcast messages on its public announcement system exhorting visitors to use less paper.

The trial appears to have had initial success - the park told news people that the daily amount of toilet paper used in its toilets has gone down by 20%. But it has also had teething problems.

Reports said that the machines, which are supposed to scan a face in three seconds but in reality can take up to 30 seconds, had caused delays and confusion.

One cleaner said: "In the past there were a lot of cases of people taking toilet paper, with these new machines a lot of people have come by to take a look." Lol.