City's road naming forbid names after foreigner, foreign places

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The civil affairs authorities of Qingdao, East China's Shandong Province on Wednesday released a regulation on naming roads, which forbids names after state leaders, foreigners and foreign places, following a nationwide battle against "non-standard" names of places.

It is believed to be the first road naming rule in the country.  

The regulation states road names should not harm national sovereignty and territorial integrity, or detrimental to national dignity. They also should not undermine national unity and social stability. 

Words that violate social morality and public order or words with vulgar style, strong feudal tendency, easy to be misunderstood and ambiguous, or may have other adverse effects on the society are prohibited. 

Specifically, it said road names should not be state leaders, foreigners and foreign places.

Some netizens questioned the rule, saying "we are living in a global village. Why can't we use names of foreigners?" Some supported the regulation, saying naming roads after foreign places will destroy the tradition and affect the residents' cultural identity, and even the protection and inheritance of urban cultural arteries. 

A report in the Qingdao Morning Post on March 2019 said staff from the Civil Affairs Bureau pointed out that 189 road names have been adjusted. Roads then were named after provincial administrative divisions and major cities in China. 

Before that, during the German Occupation period, the German colonists changed some road names to German places or people. The most typical road changes around the sea were "Taiping Road" to "William Street," "Qufu Road" to "Berlin Street," and "Guangxi Road" to "Prince Henry Street.". After  World War I, the road names were changed to Japanese ones--for example, "Guangxi Road" was changed to "Saga Street" and "Taiping Road" to "Maizuru Street."

Some places in Qingdao which has been named after foreign places such as such as "Vancouver Garden," "Toronto Block," and "Manhattan Square."

Qingdao's regulation came after China's nationwide battle against "non-standard" names of places in 2018. 

Source: globaltimes

Editor: Crystal H

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