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What's in a name? Not Chinese, according to world tourist body
By Gao Da |
August 26, 2009, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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IT came as a surprise to me to find that a United Nations organization omitted Chinese, one of the official working languages of the UN, on its nameplate.
In July 2008, I visited the headquarters of the World Tourism Organization in Madrid, Spain, a building I had dreamed of visiting for a long time.
My passion for such a visit became more intense with time passing day by day, much like a Muslim longing for a pilgrimage to Mecca or a sportsman dreaming of visiting the Lausanne headquarters of the International Olympic Committee.
Upon arriving at the tourism body's building, I was in awe of it. It's so spectacular and beautiful. But looking at the shiny nameplate, I found it was written in five languages: French, English, Spanish, Russian and Arabic. There was no Chinese, one of the official working languages of the UN.
I chatted with some Spanish people and found they seemed to have some misunderstandings about China. In their mind, China was still poor and backward.
I suggest more Europeans come to visit China for a better understanding of the country.
During my career as a tour guide, I have served thousands of foreign tourists. The great Chinese philosopher Confucius said, "Isn't it a delight to have friends coming from afar?"
Tourism is an eye-opening experience for a person, and also an opportunity to know and understand each other.
(Gao Da, a tour leader of Shanghai China Travel International Ltd)
In July 2008, I visited the headquarters of the World Tourism Organization in Madrid, Spain, a building I had dreamed of visiting for a long time.
My passion for such a visit became more intense with time passing day by day, much like a Muslim longing for a pilgrimage to Mecca or a sportsman dreaming of visiting the Lausanne headquarters of the International Olympic Committee.
Upon arriving at the tourism body's building, I was in awe of it. It's so spectacular and beautiful. But looking at the shiny nameplate, I found it was written in five languages: French, English, Spanish, Russian and Arabic. There was no Chinese, one of the official working languages of the UN.
I chatted with some Spanish people and found they seemed to have some misunderstandings about China. In their mind, China was still poor and backward.
I suggest more Europeans come to visit China for a better understanding of the country.
During my career as a tour guide, I have served thousands of foreign tourists. The great Chinese philosopher Confucius said, "Isn't it a delight to have friends coming from afar?"
Tourism is an eye-opening experience for a person, and also an opportunity to know and understand each other.
(Gao Da, a tour leader of Shanghai China Travel International Ltd)
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