It's time we stopped sacrificing toponyms

The central government will prevent local authorities from unnecessarily changing the names of roads, bridges, buildings and residential complexes, especially with capricious foreign and bizarre names, Li Liguo, the minister of Civil Affairs, said at a recent conference on geographical names.

Arbitrary use of geographical names has become common in many parts of the country. Many traditional toponyms have disappeared since the reform and opening-up were launched more than three decades ago. According to the second survey of national geographical names in 2014, more than 60,000 town names and more than 400,000 village names have been changed since 1986.

Many geographical names including names of roads, streets and buildings in various local areas are quite same, which lose regional and geographical characteristics and cultural meaning of local areas. For instance, almost all Chinese cities have named at least one newly built residential complex after Rome or Venice.