During the preparation for the Olympic Games, there was almost a 180-degree makeover by the entire Chinese government (well, at least Beijing) to magically eliminate all the infamous Chinglish signs.
Now that it is Shanghai’s turn for next year’s World Expo, a 20-page guidebook has been published to correct mistranslations. As the AFP reports:
The city is preparing to hold the biggest-ever World Expo from May 1 to October 31. The city expects 70 million people, the vast majority of them Chinese, to attend the event, featuring pavilions from nearly 190 countries.
Now, I wonder if the same treatment is being offered towards the notorious Chinese spit. Some say spitting is as Chinese as chopsticks. Chinglish may also be rightfully so.
But maybe the other notoriety would not be much of a problem in Shanghai. Somehow though, I just have this itching premonition of what will happen next.
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Chinglish is not all about poor grammar and misplaced context. This is according to German Oliver Radtke who is now based in Beijing and blogs about his Chinglish...
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2010 China public holiday schedule was announced last week. There will be in total 11 public holidays excluding Saturday and Sunday in 2010, same as last year. ...
Why Chinglish Deserves A Spot In The Hall Of Fusion Languages 
Quote: WSJ on US Participation in 2010 Expo 
2010 China Public Holiday Schedule 
I found Beijing did a great job with translating all the signs in pinyin and English for the Olympics. I didn’t like it actually, because I used to have a lot of fun with chinglish signs!
Most of the mistakes were from business advertising or small business, rarely from official signs.