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China has launched a drive to clamp down on bad English and mistranslated phrases in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Shirley Tung sent this example of one such sign.

Anthony Stamp saw this sign in a park in Guangzhou in southern China. He says: “Unfortunately it was a lot more innocuous than I was led to believe.”

James Chan sent in this picture from his trip to the Great Wall of China. Mistranslations arise because many Chinese words express concepts that can be interpreted in many ways.

Adrian Clark sent this picture of advice to visitors to the Great Wall: “Of course, what they meant was ‘in order to keep the Great Wall in good condition, please don’t spit on it.””

Jonathan Wilson was struck by this stark warning of the consequences of climbing over the wall of a pavilion in Changsha.

Halima Brewer found this cream promising to “subdue clean pieces… of smallpox glossily.”

An unusual method of law enforcement grabbed Fiona Mackie’s attention. The Beijing Tourism Bureau has a hotline for people to tip off examples of bad English.

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