Keep Off the Grass

In China, it's common for tourists to take photos of signs with poor translation, and there is a book filled with them. The poorly translated signs were such an embarrassment that the government in Beijing made an effort to fix the signs for the Beijing Olympics.

I found myself taking photos of signs when Guy and I were walking around the park in Nanjing. It was interesting to see the number of ways “Keep of the Grass” could be translated, or I assume that is the purpose of the signs. Perhaps some of them are just saying "Don't Litter." All of them are within walking distance of each other. I would love to know why these signs are not uniform, as you would expect to see in the US. Was it intentional? Are people more likely to look at the signs if they aren't uniform? Were these signs created at the same time? Did someone get paid each time the sign was translated? I was even more amused when I noticed two signs with the same English translation, but the Chinese characters are clearly different. What I like most about these signs is that the translation is so polite.