Is “Chinglish” an Endangered Species?

Taipei, Taiwan

Back when I first began attending Taipei Cycle in the 1990’s, everywhere you looked, both inside the show, that was then held at the World Trade Centre building, and out on the streets, you’d see examples of “Chinglish”.

Clearly, it’s not easy translating your message into a foreign language. Imagine if we tried to write anything correctly in Mandarin.

But these days with the help of the internet, AI and our ever more globally connected world, most exhibitors do a much better job of nailing their translations into English.

In 2025 it was only in the outer recesses of the halls, typically in smaller booths, that pockets of Chinglish still survives. It will be sad if this endangered species disappears entirely. Here were a few examples from this year’s show.