Beijing aiming to stamp out 'Chinglish' signs

BEIJING - Beijing authorities hope to eradicate "Chinglish" from bilingual signs in the Chinese capital in time for the 2008 Olympic Games, state media reported today.

Poor translation into English is commonplace in China as it is in much of Asia and has spawned a rash of websites dedicated to highlighting the often humourous results.

English speakers in Beijing have in the past been invited to visit "Racist Park" -- more accurately translated as the Park of Ethnic Minorities -- and warned to take care on wet roads as "the slippery are very crafty".

The Beijing Municipal Tourism Bureau will require the city's 4000 unrated hotels to translate their names, service hours, room rates, menus and notices for guests into accurate English in order to offer accommodation to visitors for the Games, according to the report by state news agency Xinhua.

The non-governmental Beijing Speaks to the World Committee is also hard at work identifying mistranslations in the capital and has compiled a set of standards on translation for public signs.

- REUTERS