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Seen at the Summer Palace yesterday:
Note: This is definitely not the first time I’ve seen large groups of senior citizens dancing in unison in public places in China.
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Sparring
No matter how much you study a second language, you’ll never be 100% prepared to use it on the spot in a random, real life situation. Especially if that random, real life situation is something you don’t do all that often. Like getting a bimonthly haircut. Or signing up for a yearlong gym membership.
Best part about Chinese fashion: Chinglish shirts
One of the things that annoys me most about Chinese fashion is the fact that I can’t fit into a lot of things. Most stores don’t carry my size shoe, and most pieces of clothing are either too short in length or too narrow in width (or sometimes both). Luckily, a lot of the popular stores from back home can be found all over Shenzhen.
But what Chinese fashion lacks in fitting it makes up for in hilariousness. Exhibit A: The Chinglish Shirt. Walk around any urban area of China, and you are bound to see many young Chinese people sporting this fantastic piece of clothing.
Essentially it’s a shirt with English on it. These shirts remind me of the fad that hit the US fashion scene a few years ago. (Think annoying “That’s Hot” Paris Hilton shirts and “Juicy” embroidered on the … never mind). What makes them hilarious is that most of these shirt manufacturers use botched English to duplicate the fad. The botched English provides daily entertainment for native English speakers like myself. You’ll see me constantly scrambling to find a camera or notebook to record the sayings on some of the more poetic ones I see.
Below are a few of the Chinglish shirts I purchased from Dongmen over the weekend. I sifted through hundreds of shirts to find the best ones. (Last one NSFW).
Nearby love: more preferable than far away love.
This looks like something someone would Tweet to get a certain phrase in the Trending Topics.
Chinglish
One of my favorite things about living in China is encountering signs that have been poorly translated into English, or what we 外国人 (“waiguoren”—foreigners) like to call “Chinglish.” Below, the single best Chinglish sign I’ve seen in Shenzhen:
It reads:
Fire should remain calm and rational direction, the rapid withdrawal.
Due to sudden fires, in the face of heavy smoke and flames, it is first necessary to force himself to be calm and quick judgments dangerous place and a place of safety. The decision to escape as soon as possible withdrawal of danger. Do not blindly follow the crowd and mutual crowded, chaotic—rampant. Withdrawal to the attention of North Korea[?!] or the bright open area outside run, as much as possible to run floors below, if the channel has been blocking pyrotechnics. Back pyrotechnics should be left direction, Terrace, louvre, such as rooftops to escape outdoors.
Okay. Got it.
View all of the Chinglish signs I’ve run across here.
(Chinglish fire escape sign, originally uploaded by bridget.odonnell.)
About
Bridget O'Donnell, 24, is a designer for the Shanghai Daily. She previously worked for the China Daily and graduated from the University of Michigan in 2009. More »