When translations go off the rails

The Ministry of Railways recently announced a change to the way it would write the English versions of Chinese station names. Instead of English for north and south for example, the new versions will use pinyin translations. So Beijing South Railway Station will be known as Beijingnan Railway Station. A reporter from the Beijing News found last week that the name of that station had already been changed on the information screens and on tickets.

Though Wang Feng , the deputy chief of the Shanghai Railway Bureau, told a press conference last week that the train stations' names in Shanghai will remain the same for the present, the Shanghai Morning Post reported that the Shanghai South Railway Station is preparing its signage to become Shanghainan Railway Station and new tickets are on the way.

The Ministry of Railways said it was difficult to change all the titles in the country in a short time but it would do this step by step, the Beijing News reported.

This is a move that defies logic and can only confuse foreign travelers. Most foreigners don't understand pinyin. Using the word "nan" instead of the instantly recognizable "south" is a recipe for disaster.

The irony is that this will have no effect whatsoever on Chinese travelers. It certainly will have no effect on the person who decided on this policy change. There will be no change in the way the Chinese signage is presented. But it will leave thousands of foreign travelers confused and possibly unable to choose the right direction, right station or right platform.

Major decisions like this have an impact on people and should ultimately bring benefits. Making signage less comprehensible seems to have no benefits at all.

As well this will be costly. Signs, tickets, websites, books, brochures, timetables will all have to be redesigned.

A move to regularize English-language versions of station and destination names should be welcomed. Travelers face a variety of translation options already as they find their way about. There are some places like People's Square which are obvious but tourists can also find themselves in Nanjing Road West, Nanjing West Road or West Nanjing Road depending on the translation they are reading.

There is no need to be pedantic or overly precise. The poetic quality of some place names should be preserved as much as possible: there is a beauty in Precious Stone Hill Floating in Rosy Clouds and Oriole Singing in the Willows in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.

These changes appear to have been foisted on us without consultation. Of course, because they do not affect the Chinese, someone thought it was not worthwhile bothering about consultation. But this is an important facet of how the outside world views China. And it is a policy that demands a rethink if only for financial reasons.