News
Beijing trying to bridge language barriers
07 June 2007
With the 2008 Beijing Olympics drawing ever closer, officials are continuing efforts to prepare the city for a massive influx of tourists.
Authorities have been preparing locals and those who work in the tourism industry for the masses of visitors and now the job of ensuring western travellers can read Beijing's signs is being undertaken.
It has now been decided by city officials that all public lavatories in Beijing will be called 'toilets' rather than the more traditional 'WC'.
The decision was based on the fact that the Victorian abbreviation for 'water closet' is now a bit dated.
'In many western countries they don't use the term WC at all,' said the Beijing Morning Post.
'Because in English, it's equivalent to what we would call in China an outhouse, and is a rather crude slang term.'
Other changes will see road signs updated from merely stating Chinese place names phonetically to displaying an actual translation.
This means that Dong Changan Jie will be replaced by East Changan Avenue.
Finally, concerns have been raised about visitors trying to order food in restaurants from menus that are written solely in Chinese script.
It has been decided that all hotels and restaurants rated three stars or higher will have to provide an English translation for their meals.
If you'd like to see this destination for yourself, use Opodo's travel search engine to find flights, hotels, holidays and car hire worldwide.
© Adfero Ltd
Authorities have been preparing locals and those who work in the tourism industry for the masses of visitors and now the job of ensuring western travellers can read Beijing's signs is being undertaken.
It has now been decided by city officials that all public lavatories in Beijing will be called 'toilets' rather than the more traditional 'WC'.
The decision was based on the fact that the Victorian abbreviation for 'water closet' is now a bit dated.
'In many western countries they don't use the term WC at all,' said the Beijing Morning Post.
'Because in English, it's equivalent to what we would call in China an outhouse, and is a rather crude slang term.'
Other changes will see road signs updated from merely stating Chinese place names phonetically to displaying an actual translation.
This means that Dong Changan Jie will be replaced by East Changan Avenue.
Finally, concerns have been raised about visitors trying to order food in restaurants from menus that are written solely in Chinese script.
It has been decided that all hotels and restaurants rated three stars or higher will have to provide an English translation for their meals.
If you'd like to see this destination for yourself, use Opodo's travel search engine to find flights, hotels, holidays and car hire worldwide.
© Adfero Ltd
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