Beijing kicks off anti-'Chinglish' drive

BEIJING: Beijing has kicked off a campaign to ensure all of the city's signs are grammatically correct and free of 'Chinglish' prior to the 2008 Olympics.

"We have worked out 4,624 pieces of standard English translations to substitute the 'Chinglish' ones on signs around the city," head of the organizing committee of the Beijing Speaks Foreign Languages Programme (BSFLP), Lu Jinlan said.

The committee plans to focus on improving English menus after the English translations of signs have been corrected, 'China Youth Daily' reported.

Translation standards for public signs at hotels, shopping malls, tourist spots, bus or subway stations, hospitals, museums, and sports venues will be issued.

Lu admitted that the committee faced many difficulties in consigning Chinglish to history, particularly in correcting the English translations used by private businesses, especially restaurants.

In Beijing, 'Chinglish' is prevalent in public places and has misled many foreigners. For example, some local hotels use 'scatter' for 'evacuate' in their emergency information.

The Park of Ethnic Minorities in Beijing was also identified as the 'Racist Park'.