Naming Beijing roads: no leaders, foreigners or dung beetles

No Chinese leaders or foreigners can appear in the names of new Beijing roads; hutongs and other ancient names must stay but not "excrement" or "dung beetle".

A set of standards drafted by the Beijing municipal government, now out for public opinion, has prioritized conservation of ancient place names. It says such names shall be protected as "cultural legacies" and kept in naming new roads, bridges, squares and other public spaces in the city.

The standards have particularly required hutongs, districts of narrow alleyways between the city's iconic courtyard houses, must be retained in the names of new roads in their proximity.

But as for names with indecent words, the standards suggest homophonic replacement, citing the example of "Dung Beetle Hutong," which has been replaced by a homophone that means "Always Shining Hutong".

Vulgar place names were once common in Beijing. Some even included animal dung and the names of prostitutes. Most of such names have been replaced by more "elegant" homophones.

Also banned are the names of Chinese leaders, foreigners or foreign places, while names of modern Chinese are "not advised".

It is not the first time Beijing has issued such bans. In 1949, Mao Zedong banned naming places after communist party leaders in a bid to prevent cult of personality.

The city, however, named three streets after Kuomintang generals to commemorate their sacrifice in the war against Japanese aggression. Endit