BEIJING - CHINA has cancelled a plan to turn an industrial city in the impoverished eastern province of Anhui into a 'bath house' centre after residents poured cold water on the idea online.

The Tourism Bureau issued a statement saying it no longer had plans to market Ma'anshan, home to China's fourth-largest steel maker, as China's 'bath city' as it lacks 'strong tourism products'.

Bath houses are common in Chinese cities but are often targeted along with massage and beauty parlours as suspected fronts for prostitution.

The China Daily said tourism authorities had originally contracted a consulting firm from Nanjing, in neighbouring Jiangsu province, to work out a tourism development plan, which suggested the city promote its bath house sector.

The Tourism Bureau put the proposal on its website to garner opinion and a survey conducted by sohu.com found that 31 per cent of the 40,000 respondents opposed the idea, while 35 per cent said local bath houses, if not properly regulated, could become hotbeds for prostitution.

'Can Ma'anshan guarantee 'bath city' won't turn into 'lust city'? What suspense!' one blogger wrote, playing on the Chinese homophone for 'bath' and 'lust'.

An anonymous blogger said the idea was a 'typical product of a planned economy", as Ma'anshan is not rich in water resources.

Ba Zhaoxiang, deputy dean of the tourism department of Fudan University, was quoted by the China Daily as saying the government should take care in what it promotes for tourists.

'Bath houses are good places to relax and enjoy personal exchanges, but their image has been tainted in recent years because some places give a green light to pornographers,' he said. -- REUTERS