The Seven Wide Men

The Chinese government has decreed that certain types of signs be in both Pinyin and Chinese characters. This helps foreigners of which there are still relatively few, but I'm not sure it does a great deal for the average man in the street. It does help me though. The pronunciation of Pinyin still leaves me baffled and what it comes down to is memorizing certain sequences of letters and what they should sound like. For example the Gardens of Suzhou near Shanghai and Guangzhou (Canton) are pronounced SueJoe and GuangJoe respectively. This province is Hebei (Huhbay) but there is another Hubei (pronounced Hoobay), so you have to watch when you are getting your train tickets! The need for Pinyin is well and good but often there is an attempt at English. Fortunately I can claim none of the following sign makers have graduated from my class. Here are some of my favourite mistakes. Visiting the Handan Congtai Pavilion on Sunday, home to Emperor Qin who unified China in 200 BC, the sign for the 7 Sages section read "Seven Wide Men." A startling medical clinic caught my attention yesterday claiming to be the "Stomacoligical Medical Centre". If I need car repairs I know where the "Aotombile Repair Shop" is. And by the way China had an Empress so this is not just the land of Little Emperors.