English names may be introduced in every public place in the growing southern
city of Guangzhou.
The Guangzhou Language Committee said the city government has asked relevant
departments and organizations to introduce English names for city streets,
scenic spots, parks, residential areas, bus stops, metro stations, piers,
museums and even public toilets.
The municipal government is striving to turn the city into an international
metropolis.
Currently, most of the city's public places have only pinyin or local
Cantonese style names that confuse most foreigners.
At the same time, the language committee will soon launch a city-wide
campaign to check English usage in the city.
The committee plans to set up a task force to help inspect all public places
to further promote and standardize the use of English names.
The public venues that have no English names will be asked to provide one
while those with inappropriate names or bad translations will be required to
come up with a better alternative, an official from the committee said.
Cantonese style expressions widely used in the Hong Kong and Macao special
administrative regions will no longer be considered English names.
New police cars are already being converted, with the pinyin of the Chinese
word for police, "Jing Cha," substituted by the word "police" on both sides of
the car.
The first group of new patrol wagons were put into service in Guangzhou late
last week.
By September 2006, all the patrol wagons in service will be replaced by the
new 2004 versions, or re-painted in the new style that includes white, blue and
yellow colours, said the official yesterday.
Meanwhile all the grass-roots police offices and sub-stations will also be
required to put up signs that include their English names in front of the their
gates before the end of the year to provide better service, the official added.
An English police hotline has also opened to serve the English-speaking
people in Guangzhou.