Pity poor Ms Zhou and her fiance who spent a lot of money inviting everyone to their 'weeding' where, strengthened by their 'loweringlove', the newly-weds promised to stay together for 'etenity'. Beijingers - keen to appear as sophisticated as befits residents of the capital of a booming China - are increasingly turning to English to express those important moments, or advertise products. English is everywhere - on clothes, shops, business brochures and advertisements, even official signs. Yet often the language - or, sometimes, the sentiment - strikes the wrong chord, leaving native English speakers mystified by instructions to 'Care of your head' while descending to an underpass, 'Keep Space' while driving on a highway or the public exhortation: 'Do not let your pets hurt other people'. With English popular among the urban young, the situation has caught the attention of the guardians of the nation's youth. Worried Beijing's slew of trendy but often nonsensical new words and expressions will cast the city in a poor light during the 2008 Olympics, the Communist Youth League has launched a campaign to get citizens to spell correctly - or just speak Chinese. 'In Korea, it became very embarrassing,' said Ji Lin, organiser of the campaign for the nation-wide Youth League, referring to the 2002 Football World Cup, co-hosted by the South Korean capital, Seoul. 'For example, they had signs to tell people 'No Smoking' but they spelled it 'smokeing' with an 'e', ' she said. 'If you don't pay attention to the small things, we feel it just won't create a good impression of China.' Targeting university students initially, the Youth League has set up a website ( http://yingyutong . cycnet.com), where it encourages whistleblowers to e-mail in problem words and expressions. Language buffs can also send a mobile phone text message, ring or write a letter. After the Lunar New Year holiday, the Youth League plans to expand the campaign to businesses and, later, to the west of the country, where living and educational standards are lower. 'We want people with a sense of social responsibility to join in,' says Ji. Two months into the campaign, though, the Youth League says it's disappointed with the results - just 700 submissions. 'It's far below our expectations,' says Ji, blaming the poor response on a lack of publicity caused by a lack of funding by the cash-strapped league, which has not been able to solicit donations from universities. Recent contributions included one via e-mail from a Yu Zheng, in the central city of Nanjing. An underpass had been wrongly dubbed the 'Light Art Tunnel', Yu reported. That translation - direct from the Chinese original - was insufficient. Instead, he suggested, it should be called a more poetic 'Arcade with Illuminations'. Another e-mailer, named Hetong, found embarrassing an exhibit at Beijing's Museum of Military History, where a rocket was incorrectly identified as a 'pocket'. 'This mistake was pointed out by an American and, as a Chinese, I felt very ashamed,' he wrote. Despite its concern, the Youth League appears oblivious to many common mistakes. Some favourite howlers enjoyed by Beijing-based English language natives were listed recently in a city magazine: The Wonderful Boning Park; Massage the House (written on a building), and Listening to the Sound of Pain Pavilion. Instead, the Youth League appears to be targeting grammar and subtle, almost Jesuitical errors that plenty of native speakers would probably make, too. 'There is a sign somewhere that tells people how to go somewhere on the subway and instead of saying 'to such and such a place,' it says 'for such and such a place'. Now that's wrong,' says Ji. The Youth League is also taking aim at evidence of English creeping into official signs. Ji says the city should use either Pinyin, the mainland's romanisation system, or English, but not a combination of the two. 'For example, we don't like the Tiananmen Square underground station. It says 'Tiananmen West' and 'Tiananmen East', using the English words with the Chinese ones. But all places have a standard for street signs and use their mother tongue.' But sometimes the guardians can get it wrong, suggesting that their attention runs the risk of worsening, instead of improving, the situation. 'For example, lots of water tanks have signs saying 'Save Water',' says Ji. 'But how do you save water? You can't save water. They should write: 'Cherish Water', instead.'
