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New street signs are being put up throughout the city. They are supposed to be easier to read. But one local official likes not what he sees -- the letters 'R' and 'D'. He thinks "Lu" should replace "Rd" -- this is China, after all. OK, fine ... but why not bring this up before thousands of new signs were printed?
Using pinyin instead of English seems to be a trend of late. The recent name change of metro stations and buildings (Shanghaiist reported here and here) has at least taught many a wayward foreigner that "Century" is "Shiji" in pinyin. And the story linked to above says foreigners were in mind when the city's street signs were designed:
Shanghai is looking for a resolution for its road signs so foreigners can recognize them, which is in line with the international practice and will meet the real needs of the city, said an official with local government.
But, really, if a foreigner can't figure out what "Lu" means, reading street signs is the least of his problems. We are happy that Shanghai provides us with road names in Latin script, compared to some other cities in China. All we ask for is consistency. Rd or Lu, Tibet or Xizang, Wulumuqi or Urumqi, People's or Renmin -- make a choice and stick with it.
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It would be nice if they actually included the tones. That would save everyone a lot of grief -- at least me an the taxi-driving population.
It makes sense to have everything in pinyin, so tourists can at least try to pronounce lu, and shiji, and xizang, so taxi drivers understand. Getting there slowly...
I agree, the whole thing should be in Pinyin--it's little help keeping things in some sort of weird compromise--tourists won't know what "Century" or "Tibet" are in Chinese. The whole point of the signs are to provide direction--it's no use having the directions in a language that few taxi drivers and other locals will understand....
Wouldn't tones be nice! Even after living here for a few years, it still screws me up when going to roads that I don't know...
This vaguely touches on a personal pet peeve of mine: when speaking English, saying "lu" instead of "road." I feel that the proper name (say, "Nanjing") should be said in its original form, and not translated (saying "Southern Capital" would just be silly, wouldn't it?). However, why say "lu?" Common names should be translated. Do people say "It's near the Nanpu qiao" or "I'm flying into Pudong jichang"?
As regards the signs, the question is: are these meant to be translations, or romanizations?
From the article:
uh... hey genius. the sign ALREADY has the word for "road" in the chinese native language. See that character up there?I really don't care either way, but the fact that the government spends time on stupid details like this is painfully disappointing. It's easier to obsess over trivialities than to actually make progress.
Using pinyin instead of English is right. As if Chinese wasnt hard enough to learn, English road names are nothing but an obstacle - after all, nobody would start translating European roads into "street of July 17th" , "the Elysee Fields" etc. I hope names of hotels, KTVs etc. will be next - and we could actually start to learn this freakin' language without daily textbook sessions (like we would do with Italian or French, just by looking around)!
To all you politicians out there: we want to learn, we really do, just give us a chance!
as long as they keep the N S E W indications! why doesn't every city in the world have this?
""pinyin"" without a mark for tones IS NOT (Mandarin) PINYIN. Period.
So what does the dufus official have to say about Tibet, Suzhou Creek and Urumqi Roads, for instance? Should they be renamed? And what about other traffic signs, e.g. bridges and tunnels? Hey why not go even further and have strict pinyin for tourists sites too.
Maybe I should write the mayors of every western city and ask that street signs in Chinese neighbourhoods replace "lu" and with road.
If an expat living in Shanghai cannot remember the generic, easy-to-pronounce, name for "road" well ...
Anyway, the new street signs look great and thankfully nothing like those hideous blue monstrosities in Pudong.
Tones, my god... that would make the signs even better!
There is already Chinese there, so I'm not sure why the dude is getting his knickers in a twist... isn't the pinyin supposed to be for non-Chinese speakers? Anyway, road, lu, whatever.
Agree about the N S E W signals, they are superb. :)
plex had a good point there - what about the buildings? on nanjing xilu there is for example 'meilongcheng', all the chinese know this name. And in English it's advertised as 'Westgate Mall' - not even a translation... just another name.
And did you try to make an appointment at Plaza 66, Radisson Hotel, or Grand Gateway with your Chinese friend? this is a new dimension of lost in translation...
I agree, might be better to just write the pingyin instead of translating the road, tunnel, building names into English
off the topic, and I didn't read the previous comments because I am lazy....
does anyone know when the name of the Shimen #1 Road Subway Station on line 2 was changed to Nanjing Road (W)? Was on the subway they other day and didn't know where I was temporarily...
hi jeff, shanghai changed a few metro station names on line 2 end of october - so just about three weeks ago.
what were the other name changes?
Found this - old article on Shanghai Daily: "SHANGHAI'S naming authority will rename another three Metro Line stations in the next few months to offer passengers a more accurate description of their locations, Youth Daily reported today. "Nanjing Road E." will replace the "Henan Road M." station name along Metro Line No. 2 by the end of this year. Some citizens wondered why Nanjing Road wasn't used as a Metro line station name because it's one of Shanghai's symbols and the most famous shopping street. The naming authority took the suggestion. Meanwhile, "Shimen Road Station" on Metro Line No. 2 will be replaced by "Nanjing Road W. Station." and "Wenshui Road E. Station" on Metro Line No. 3 will be changed to "Dabaishu Station." The "Dongfang Road Metro Station," which will reopen this month following months of construction, has changed its name to "Century Boulevard Station," because the former name didn't express its location accurately after it will later be a transfer hub for Metro Line No. 2, No. 4, No. 6 and another future Metro line. In a survey conducted by Youth Daily, most respondents accepted the new station names."