Lao Voices

I do have to admit that it’s a bit amusing to read “Chinglish,” especially for those that English, or Engrish is not their first language, but more like second or third languages for most of us, it’d be very easy for some of us to make that mistake, especially if we want to sound intelligent, and trust me, it’s not to do it intentionally to embarrass ourselves, but in this case, ignorant isn’t bliss.

We read in the past that China is clamping down on bad English, but it’s everywhere and it’d seem like finding a needle in a haystack. I came upon an article on Yahoo News, “ ‘Virgin chicken’ off the menu in Beijing” where the Beijing Tourism Bureau has released a list with 2,753 proposed names for dishes and drinks, designed to replace bizarre and sometimes ridiculous translations on menus, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

If you’re one that plan to visit China because you want to see Chinglish, I’m sure it’d still be around for you to see, but might not be as much in Beijing, especially on restaurant menus, items such as Steamed Crap, Virgin Chicken, Burnt Lion’s Head, Temple Explodes the Chicken Cube, but instead you might find something familiar such as Mushroom-Duck’s Foot, Fish Filets in Hot Chili Oil, and Crispy Chicken, even these might seem exotic for some to try, then I would say, stick with Chinese Fried Rice, you can’t go wrong.

This is the latest effort by Beijing Olympics organizers to clean up the city and ensure that the best image is presented to the hundreds of thousands of visitors expected next summer.

Etiquette campaigns are afoot to stamp out bad manners such as jumping ahead in line, spitting, littering and reckless driving. The revised menu names are part of an effort to ban unintelligible English, known as “Chinglish,” that abounds on signs everywhere.

All I’d say is, good luck China, I couldn’t resist, here are some more photos.