December 2010
Traveling in foreign countries can sometimes be trying. Especially when there’s little English spoken, or written. It’s hard to get answers to questions like ‘How do I get to Dali?” or “Where’s the bus station?” or “When does the train leave?”
Fortunately, there is often considerable comic relief in the English that is written – on signs and t-shirts and menus.
In China, Li Jiang and Shangri La topped the list for hilarious signs.
In Li Jiang the beautifully carved wooden signs with green or yellow lettering exhorted tourists and travelers alike to act in a ‘civilized’ manner:
To be a Civilized Tourist Please Keep the Place Clean
To be a Civilized Citizen Littering prohibited!
To be a Civilized Citizen Please walk bicycles and motorcycles
Do not make noise in the civilized ancient town
It is everybody’s duty to take the ancient town fire prevention
Beware of slip
Or how about this one, not far from our
lodgings in Li Jiang....
Sexy Tractor: Your Living room in Lijiang
Wine and dine happily and healthily – Do not waste food!
Don’t fouch me, or I will feel a shamed
Mountains and rivers will be your friends and you will be with good reputation as a civilized tourist
Cherish the environment please, or beauty will lose
Beautify our lives, purify our minds
You cherish my life, I repay your meadow
Grass-selling Square
Adore the green, embrace the life
Enjoy the cool under tree, beantify the homeland on us
Keep away from the green grass
Waste papers you pick, deep affections you send
…and our favourite…
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