A Matter of Language: Chinglish Signs

Language was definitely an issue for me in China. When sales people started talking to me in Mandarin, I’d stop them and ask if they spoke English. Luckily, there would be another customer close by who stepped forward to translate. So being a Chinese in China who couldn’t speak the local language, I found some local signs amusing, even if it was just a typo. My favorite is the last one.

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Sign advertising bestselling tea in Guilin

Sign advertising bestselling tea in Guilin


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Warning sign in Pudong Airport, Shanghai


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Coffee shop in Shanghai airport


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Sign in hotel


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Entrance to The Great Wall


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Restaurant in Yangshuo


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I thought this restaurant served roast chicken. It didn’t.


yangshuo-on-a-stall

Vendor stall in Yangshuo

3 thoughts on “A Matter of Language: Chinglish Signs

  1. I’m not sure if they are typos (LOL) because I see similar language errors on signs in Greece and other places I’ve travelled. I think the people making the signs simply don’t refer the proper sources (aka dictionaries) or refer to invalid sources like tourists or someone they know who took a language course once upon a time.

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