China, the Interesting Signage Post

[przed]

There's lots of bilingual Mandarin/English signage in China, but there are times when the English versions of signs is...interesting. Not necessarily wrong, but definitely not what a native English speaker would have come up with.

And then there are signs that are just interesting, and not because of any translation or failure of idiom.

This one was in front of a rock garden display inside the Forbidden City. I don't think I would necessarily call a rock garden a "perilous hill", even if it was about 20 feet high.


But what if I really want to run and chase in the Great Wall tourism area?


I don't know that you can trample a stone carving.


Corn juice stalls and shops are ubiquitous around China (and no, I wasn't brave enough to try it, especially not after the icky corn snack incident) but this shop in Guilin had the best name ever.


This sign was on a room in a historical house in Guilin. Basically, it was the place any member of the household got sent if they were being naughty.


Not a sign, per se, this bamboo in a park in Guilin is where you can carve the names of you and your girlfriend/boyfriend.


I'm still not quite sure what the problem is with striding is, but they really don't want you to do it here.


The Posh Hotel is almost as good a name as the Galactic Peace International Hotel. Almost, but not quite. (I love that both are in Nanchang.)


This is the best sign ever. It's the banner at Rosalind's orphanage, welcoming her back home. (The fifth, sixth and seventh characters are her Chinese name.)


This sign was opposite the elevators on our floor of the hotel in Shanghai. It gave a running report on what the weather was like outside. This is what we were always hoping for.


This is what it was more often than not.


This sign was on a display of old photographs of the area in the oldest post office in China (found in an old canal city outside Shanghai). I love the poetry of it.


In the same post office was a wall where you could post your hopes and wishes.


This warning really cuts to the chase about why you shouldn't jump in that water. No, really, you shouldn't do it. Not unless you want to be impaled on those iron pillars.

Comments

[togsos.livejournal.com]

The translations are great,I really like the practicality of the iron spike one :D The sign welcoming Ros is really lovely.

[moth2fic.livejournal.com]

Those are great! One of my friends frequently sends me compilations of strange signs and a lot of them are frequently to do with odd translations. We find the same kind of thing in leaflets, menus, etc. in Europe but of course there aren't as many bilingual signs around.

Did Ros enjoy her visit to the orphanage as an 'old girl'?? She must have been thrilled by the special welcome.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Considering the translations are for English speaking tourist, you'd think they'd get English speakers to do the translations. *g*

And what a really lovely gesture on the part of the orphanage.

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Oh, these are wonderful. Reminds me of when I did a Chow Yung Fat marathon one time and the subtitles made me laugh. I understood the general idea but I could tell that someone who knew "proper" English translated the dialogue.

[togsos.livejournal.com]

chow yung fat ... nom nom nom

[solosundance.livejournal.com]

Ah yes, you always need room for introspection :) Great signs, and I love the carved bamboo. The simplicity of the weather report is wonderful too!

[draycevixen.livejournal.com]

"Old garden has experienced many vicissitudes" may become the explanation for my life. *g*

Love the banner they made for Ros.

[halotolerant.livejournal.com]

Iron pillars made me giggle *g* And clearly the anti-striding is to prevent Strider getting the One Ring to Mt Doom which is apparently behind the sign (Sauron has learnt that wargs/orcs/slaves are all well and good, but nothing has power like a bureaucratic sign)

[kortirion.livejournal.com]

I second that thought! Or rather, both of them. :-)

[sc-fossil.livejournal.com]

Definitely!

[mad-lemming-89.livejournal.com]

I love signs like these! XD I think The Posh Hotel might be my favourite though. The sign welcoming Ros back is darling!

[shayheyred.livejournal.com]

Chinese sign translations are almost poetic! I remember one at the Forbidden City that said "Not scratching area." I still am not sure what it meant.

[przed.livejournal.com]

I love the iron spike one. It just tells it like it is. The banner for Ros was really touching.

[przed.livejournal.com]

Strange signs are too much fun, wherever they occur.

Ros did enjoy the orphanage trip, though it was also a really emotional day.

[przed.livejournal.com]

You'd think. *g*

I was really touched by the banner. Everyone was very welcoming.

[przed.livejournal.com]

The room for introspection was fab. As was the weather report, though it took a couple of trips in the elevator before I realized it was practical and not just decorative.

[przed.livejournal.com]

I think we all need a t-shirt with that saying.

The banner was a truly wonderful thing.

[przed.livejournal.com]

*g*

[przed.livejournal.com]

Ah, you have clearly cracked the code on the anti-striding sign. *g*

[przed.livejournal.com]

We saw The Posh Hotel sign on the trip to Ros' orphanage, and it gave me a giggle.

[przed.livejournal.com]

You can usually guess at what the signs mean, but I haven't got a clue about the "Not scratching area" either. Hmmm.

[przed.livejournal.com]

The subtitles in Hong Kong films in the late '80s and early '90s were definitely a scream. My favourite wacky one, that showed up again and again, was "I'll." as a sentence all on its own instead of "I will." You could just see the translator puffing up in pride that they'd used a contraction just like a native speaker. Except not. *g*

And it's Chow Yun Fat. Corrected with love, because I'm an anal cinephile and HK cinema buff.

[asilia.livejournal.com]

Haha those made me laugh! I'm a big fan of the 'No striding' sign!

That is so sweet they had a banner up for Ros at the orphanage, awww :) That must have been really touching.

[przed.livejournal.com]

"No striding" was definitely awesome.

The fact that they'd had the banner made was really touching. It was a whirlwind day, but fully of lovely moments.

[soundofthesurf.livejournal.com]

My mobile won't let me open LJ (says it's too unsafe...pffft...), now I'm just glad I'm able to see the pictures (don't tell my boss... :D)

I love that they call this wall the "soul post" - awww! But the banner for Ros beats it all, just so. Lovely. *melts*

I remember a friend of mine telling me about "funny signs" she saw on her journey to China, but I'd never imagined them to be that funny.

[dracothelizard.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sod Gandalf and his 'YOU SHALL NOT PASS!' thing, he clearly should've used a sign to stop the Balrog.

Those translation, heee. I wonder if they're doing it on purpose now?

[przed.livejournal.com]

Pffft to your mobile. (And I won't tell your boss. *g*)

The Soul Post was pretty cool. But the banner was amazing.

I've seen pics of even crazier signs in China, but supposedly they did a big clean up of all the really crazy Chinglish ahead of the Olympics. More's the pity. ;-)