Sources with the Beijing Municipal Traffic Administration said a campaign was launched on September 6 to standardize bilingual signs along the city’s second and third ring arterials, including principal and minor ones. In addition, checks also cover signs in the city’s major tourist attractions and scenic spots. Confusing and misleading signs will be replaced.

 

“Should nothing unexpected happen (during this process), problems related with bilingual (Chinese-English) signs will be adequately addressed,” a member of staff with the administration told reporters.

 

Problems with translations ranging from careless spelling and bad grammar to cultural misinterpretation are commonplace due mainly to a lack of professional translators. A typical example would be “Stop cashier”, a sign often seen at supermarket or department store cash tills.

 

The message is confusing and takes an English-speaking visitor a second or two to understand that what it's really trying to say is "Cashier Closed" or "Till Closed".

 

The take-a-dictionary-and-translate-literally method of translation employed by substandard translators sometimes results in ludicrous errors. An example would be the shoddy translation from chukou (exit) to "export", and from shusan (evacuate) to "scatter".

 

The absence of uniform criterion and a designated standardization institution contribute to another major issue with bilingual signs: the mixed use of Chinese pinyin and English for road signs. For the Chinese characters which mean “minor arterial (road)”, some signs display the Chinese pinyin fulu while others use “service road”, which is not entirely correct.

 

Speaking of the mixed use of Chinese pinyin and English in road signs, a facilities official with the administration spoke about the dilemma they face.

 

“The National Chinese Committee orders the use of Chinese pinyin while the Beijing Citizen Speaking English Office demands the use of Chinese-English bilingual signs,” the official lamented.

 

On May 25, China Daily launched an ambitious national campaign on their website aimed at standardizing bilingual signs (www.chinadaily.com.cn).

 

EXAMPLES OF PROBLEMATIC BILINGUAL SIGNS

 

Problematic translation	Intended meaning
Guest Go No Further	Staff Only
Business Suspended	Closed/No Service
Appropriate Parking	Reserved Parking
Nongzhan Bridge	Nongzhan Overpass
Police Affairs Station	Police Station
Business Reception Desk	Reception

(China.org.cn by Wind Gu, September 11, 2005)