Sign
May 10, 2006
We are all used to seeing signs in China with weird English translations from Chinese, but this one is a bit different.
For this one (in a railway station) rather than attempting to translate into English, they have provided the Pinyin. Very helpful if you are trying to learn Chinese, I guess..
(Sorry about the poor quality of the picture - the text says "Xiao Xin Di Hua")
Alarming, and not at all interesting in Chinese eyes (I mean those who are not "blind"). HK is now undergoing what I would call "Mainlandization". The Pinyin system was officially announced in China in 1957. It was official policy to "disseminate" it. It never made much headway. There you see: Hong Kong is now picking up bits and pieces, as long as it looks 'patriotic' to do so.
Posted by: Ken | May 10, 2006 at 10:27 PM
Sorry if it wasn't clear, but this is a sign from a railway station on the Mainland, not in Hong Kong. I have made a minor update to the post to clarify this.
Posted by: Chris | May 12, 2006 at 01:25 PM