Correcting mistranslated English signs ahead of Shanghai Expo

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In many Chinese hotels, the word "scatter" is often misused for "evacuate" on emergency signs. Tobacco stores advertise "smoke," instead of cigarettes. It doesn't take long to find incorrect English signs in China's shopping centers, hotels, parks, and airports.

In a bid to correct the errors, the Shanghai minicipality, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces, have published guidelines for English translations. The goal is to correct all the signs before the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

Song Chenxi is an English enthusiast. Together with her classmates, Song set up an organization named "woodpecker" two years ago. They went out to search for signs with incorrect translations. Song estimates that nearly a quarter of bilingual signs in Shanghai have problems.

English enthusiast Song Chenxi said, "There are many foreigners in Shanghai. But those mistranslated signs keep standing there for months without correction."

This sign board should read "Passengers only", but instead has this. The customs office sign board is translated this way. These signs would be difficult for any person to understand.

"Guidelines for English translations in Public Places" was published on Monday in a bid to correct the mistakes. It contains general rules for translation, as well as hundreds of useful expressions. It aims to correct all the English signs before the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.