A press conference was held yesterday by the website of China Daily (www.chinadaily.com.cn) in the Beijing's University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), to launch a national campaign to standardize bilingual signs.

Professor Ding Hengqi from the UIBE presented a list of typical errors found in Beijing, ranging from careless spelling and bad grammar to cultural misinterpretation.

Andrew Newton, senior project manager of the British Council's Cultural and Education Section, also spoke about his experience of being misled by a sign for an "intellectual café," actually an internet café. "I had hoped to meet some professors there," he said.

The "Use Accurate English to Welcome the Olympics -- Public Bilingual Sign Standardization Drive" will hold initial promotion activities in major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an and Guangzhou.

The aim is to create user friendly bilingual signs for the upcoming 2008 Olympics in the capital and to help build a better image for China internationally.

The campaign is supported by the British Council and the Public Affairs Section of the Canadian Embassy. Universities including the UIBE, Shanghai International Studies University, Xi'an International Studies University and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies will also join the effort.

Reportedly, students of a junior high school in Beijing found 91 mistakes on bilingual signposts in Wangfujing and Xidan -- two of Beijing's most famous downtown areas -- in the year 2004. One reason behind such errors was the lack of uniform criterion.

(China.org.cn by Wind Gu May 26, 2005)