A survey conducted earlier this week found certain areas of Kunming are suffering from a proliferation of poorly translated signs. A team of experts found several instances of advertisements, public postings and official signage with mistakes written in both Chinese and English, Yunnan Net is reporting.

The work committee formed to research the use of 'non-standard' English was made up of local law enforcement officers, chengguan and language experts. Together they examined signs at the train station and airport as well as in the area around Green Lake Park.

During their investigation, the team found several examples of improperly translated signs in English. Perhaps surprisingly they also discovered instances of simplified and traditional characters used together.

In an effort to rectify the situation, which has been deemed misleading to children, a task force was formed to scour the city and fix incorrect signs. How exactly the task force will convince business owners to alter their advertisements and other postings was not explained in the Yunnan Net article.

A 24-hour hotline has also been established and citizens are encouraged to call 63167610 to report typos and other mistakes on any sign or posting they may come across. The hotline went into operation April 24 and will be available until May 20. However, when GoKunming called to verify if the hotline operators were bilingual, no one answered.

A reporter for Yunnan Net conducted his own impromptu survey and found some interesting and often hilarious examples. On a restaurant menu gongbao jiding, commonly known in the West as kungpao chicken – was translated to "palace violence diced chicken", while fresh-squeezed juice (鲜榨果汁) became "fresh-fried juice."'

Top images: Sander van de Moortel

Bottom image: Dan Siekman

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