To the agony of some in City Hall in the capital, China is increasingly becoming a superpower. (The fact I mentioned this public statement of fact got me cancelled from a Chinglish-related presentation I was about to do for them last autumn — typical bureaucratic paranoia! Oh and the “agony” part is because some prefer to be… low-key?)
But China loves to show off — not in a pretentious way, though — but in fact-based way. So just before Covid, I got invited to Shandong, eastern China, for a look at industry “in action”. That great big Chinglishy display was for all of us expats to see… as we arrived…
Well, to you, fellow respectful guests browsing The Chinglish Blog — a blog I don’t for an attosecond regret doing, no matter what it might entail — I do welcome you all to guide the work. We can start with a browse through what this site will in future be about.
Exposing Chinglish. The number one reason why this site exists. The raison d’être for the microphone with the enormous thick foam cover on the site, so to speak. The blog will unabashedly expose some serious WTF-level Chinglish (and those not as scary). But far from laughing out loud, we’ll go in-depth and see why the sign ended up this way.
A Chinglish Visit of Cities. Taking a look at three things in every Chinese city, big and small, wayside county town and superpower megalopolis alike, we take a look at three things that define a city: the way streets are named and translated, the way metro stations are named (or tram stops; if none, then bus stops) and hence translated, and the “English ecosystem” in key parts of town (like the city centre, but also the hi-tech hub in the suburbs).
Places Doing it Right. This blog will also, notably, be interested in signage which appears pretty much picture-perfect. It’ll show which places take great care to present warnings and advisory in as un-Chinglishy a way as possible. And more.
The Chinglish Blog is a David Feng blog. Therefore, updates will follow on David’s own Instagram and Twitter (“X”) account; YouTube clips, too, are in the pipeline.
Updates will start, first of all, over the weekend, then slowly spread to Wednesday, Monday, and Friday, in that order.
Enjoy!
PS: A better translation for the above Chinglish? A simple Welcome to [Company Name], along with an option mention of where the delegation is from, will work. Hence, it should be: Welcome to Acme Microphone Company to guests from the UK, or something similar…
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