Shanghai to replace its notorious Chinglish signboards before World Expo

Shanghai, Oct. 23 (ANI): As Shanghai gets ready to host four million foreign visitors for the next year's World Expo, the city plans to get rid of poorly translated English signs boards at the city's public areas.

Earlier this week, Shanghai Media Group's International Channel Shanghai (ICS) launched a campaign called "Write It Right" to help correct improperly translated English signs.

"High school student volunteers will take pictures of wrongly translated English signs and billboards in the Expo Park, as well as in the city's downtown areas," the Star Online quoted ICS, as saying.

Experts will then discuss such mistakes and make recommendations.

Also, the municipal government released a new series of guidelines and more than 300 English translations based on international standards.

These signboards will replace existing public signs, which are inadvertently humorous and insensitive, the reports adds.

Beijing had initiated a similar campaign prior to its hosting of the Olympic Games last year.

"The efforts are good, especially coming from a place in China like Shanghai, which is interacting with the rest of the world," Doctorate student Musebu Sichula from Zambia, said.

Sichula recalls coming across a large rock in Shanghai with a sign below it that read "Caution, overhead hazard."

Mardapittas, creative director of a Shanghai-based media marketing firm, termed the city's attempt to correct improper English signs as "a natural progression in its modernisation."

"The way the city is choosing to change reflects the behaviour of Chinese people," he said. (ANI)