Railways ministry orders English words to be replaced by pinyin

The Ministry of Railways has ordered all railways to replace any directional words in English station names, such as "east" or "west", with their Chinese equivalents, sparking a heated debate over how to best preserve the language and cater to foreigners.

Directional words will now appear in romanised pinyin text alongside station names, without English translation.

For example, the station previously known as Bejing West - the largest railway hub in Asia - will now appear as Beijingxi Railway Station on signs and tickets, xi being the Chinese word for "west".

The directive was distributed to regional rail authorities by the ministry's Bureau of Transportation on August 20 and uploaded to Baidu's Wenku document archive by an internet user. The document did not provide a reason for the change.

The ministry's press office confirmed the directive but declined to comment. Beijing's subway and bus companies, who have to adapt to the change, also would not comment.

In addition to being confronted with potentially unfamiliar Chinese words, English speakers may face confusion stemming from the bureau's decision not to set a deadline for sign changes. Tickets were expected to be printed with the new names starting on September 1.

Chen Xiaotao, a resident of Beijing's Chaoyang district, said that she was concerned for foreign friends who may come to visit her.