Foreign affairs offices inspect bilingual signs across Guiyang and Gui'an

Public signs in foreign languages serve as an important window into the open, internationally friendly environment of Guiyang City and Gui'an New Area. They also constitute a key medium through which international friends experience the essence of "Colorful Guizhou, Cool Guiyang".

The team conducts inspection visits. [Photo/WeChat account of Guiyang Foreign Affairs Office]

In response to non-standard foreign-language signage issues raised by public transit passengers and exposed on social media, a research team, comprising the Foreign Affairs Office of Guizhou Province, the Guiyang Foreign Affairs Office, and foreign language experts, recently conducted special supervision and inspection visits.

The team visited Guiyangdong Railway Station, Guiyang Railway Station, Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport, Qingyun Market, and other locations to promote standardized, accurate signage translations and to continuously improve Guiyang and Gui'an's international language environment.

In accordance with the national standard, Guidelines for the Use of English in Public Service Areas, the team reviewed 326 Chinese-English signs and proposed 136 standardized translation references for problematic signs. The issues identified mainly involved spelling errors, non-standard capitalization and formatting, inconsistent translation methods, and unidiomatic wording.

At Guiyangdong Railway Station and Guiyang Railway Station, the team focused on examining bilingual signs in waiting halls, entrances, exits, and other areas, and learned about the responsible authorities' sign review procedures, reference standards, and production cycles.

At Guiyang Longdongbao International Airport, the team inspected the translation of signs in high-international-passenger-traffic areas of terminals 2 and 3, identifying and correcting multiple instances of non-standard translation. The team also conducted on-site supervision at Qingyun Market, a nighttime cultural and tourism consumption cluster.

With the guidance of the Foreign Affairs Office of Guizhou Province, the Guiyang Foreign Affairs Office will continue to promote standardized foreign language signs by strengthening pre-review, expert inspections, on-site supervision, and public error reporting, ensuring that precise and standardized language details help project the "Colorful Guizhou, Cool Guiyang" brand to the world.