An English-only teaching town to be built in a suburb northeast of Beijing would ban Chinese and other foreign languages in an effort to attract anglophiles and students looking for an immersion experience, the Jinghua Times reported last Thursday.

"We plan to build in the European architectural style of the English city. The town will be divided into 16 city blocks, laid out like a castle," said Wang Haichen, head of Miyun County.

"It's like going abroad for tourists. When they arrive, they will get a 'passport' which has to be stamped. And those who are caught speaking Chinese will have their points on the passport deducted," Wang said.

According to Wang, the language rules were drawn up as a bid to distinguish the development from the other European-style towns across the country.

News of the town, which Wang said is expected to take five years to build, has been forwarded more than 10,000 times on Twitter-like microblogging platform Sina Weibo, where it has stirred fierce debate.

Some netizens expressed disgust for the plans. "We are now in an increasingly globalized world. But that doesn't mean we should forget who we are," one blogger wrote. "It's good to embrace globalization, but why should we forget our native language?" another blogger asked.

Others argued the language rule is a form of discrimination. "Does that mean people who can't speak English should stay away?" one blogger asked. Another blogger struck a more ironic tone: "Which 'genius' developed this idea? We can speak Chinese in English-speaking countries, but now we are forbidden at home."

(China.org.cn by Zhang Junmian December 20, 2011)

據《京華時報》報道，北京市東北部郊縣密云縣計劃打造一座英語城，在城內只能使用英語溝通，不能使用漢語或其他外語。該項目意圖吸引那些對英國文化感興趣的游客和樂于體驗浸入式英語環境的學生。

密云縣縣長王海臣說：“我們計劃建一座歐洲建筑風格的英語城，整個城分為16個城市街區，是個封閉式的城堡。”

“開放后，游客進入英語城就像出國一樣，弄一個‘護照’然后蓋章。進城之后不許說漢語，說漢語會扣分。”

王海臣表示，這是為了和國內其他類似的歐洲風情小鎮有所區別，避免同質化競爭。

王海臣預計該項目建成要花費五年的時間。此消息一出，在新浪微博上的轉發超過了上萬條，并引發了熱烈的討論。

一些網友對這個計劃表示出反感。有人在博客中寫道：“雖然現在提倡國際化，但是也不能忘本。”還有網友詰問：“走向國際化雖不錯，但難不成還得忘卻自身民族的語言嗎？”

還有人認為，限制語言也是一種歧視。一位網友質疑道：“這是讓不會說英語的人走開嗎？”另一位網友諷刺道：“去英美國家都還能說漢語，在中國卻不讓說了，真有才啊，這點子誰想的？”