For those of us who have lived in the capital for a while, reciting Beijing’s subway stations has become second nature. But do we really know what we’re saying? As China Real Time found out, if you enter the characters of Beijing’s subway station names into Baidu translate, the results are pretty interesting – and at times rather strange.
For those who don’t know, many of Beijing’s subway lines were built along the city's old gates. For this reason it’s not surprising that quite a few of the subway stations along Line 2 were named after these historic gates. For example, Qianmen translates to “Front Gate,” Andingmen means “Stability Gate” and Tiananmen is “Heavenly Peace Gate.”
Many subway stations that are scattered around the city get their names from other historic landmarks. For example, Tuqiao – which is located at the end of the Batong Line – translates to “Dirt Bridge.” However, others have slightly more idyllic translations. Mudanyuan (Line 10) means “Peony Garden” and Puhuangyu (Line 5) means “Cattail Yellow Elm.”
READ MORE: Literal English Map of the Shanghai Subway is Amazing (and Completely Useless)
With well over 200 subway stations in the capital, it's not completely surprising that the names of many are a bit of a mystery. Jishuitan (Line 2) means “Puddle of Accumulated Water,” Shunyi (Line 15) translates to “Smooth Justice” and Huoying (Line 8) means “Cholera Camp.”
If only we could learn the stories behind those names.
[Image via Wall Street Journal]
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