By South China Morning Post | Created at 2026-08-13 10:13:00 | Updated at 2026-08-13 11:12:41
3 hours ago
A highway operator in Gansu province, northwestern China, apologised on Wednesday after a service area sign for the hot water room, mistranslated in English as “open water rooms”, was shared on social media.
Similar translation errors, as well as spelling mistakes, on signage at public facilities have repeatedly drawn attention, including an incident in late March, when a passenger at an airport in the southwestern city of Guiyang discovered multiple misspellings.
The mistranslation of the bilingual sign at the Yuanyang service area on the Lianyungang-Khorgos Expressway was revealed in a social media post on Tuesday
A day later, the Gansu Expressway Service Group issued an official notice to say the incorrect English sign had been removed, and “special inspections and rectifications of signs across all service areas managed by the company” would occur.
The notice from the state-owned enterprise, which manages 78 pairs of service areas accounting for 70 per cent of the province’s total, said the company would verify Chinese-English signs across all service areas and address any identified errors immediately.
A signage management system would also be established, featuring “review before installation, with periodic rechecks”, it said. The company also promised to improve its working mechanisms, continuously enhancing its service quality and public image.
