Metro dictionary buzz for Expo

• Source: Global Times
• [16:07 February 23 2010]
• Comments

By Ni Dandan

A netizen going under the name of “Cappuccino” released a self-compiled dictionary of Shanghai subway terms on a local online forum Sunday. While many welcome the effort, others are saying it is impractical and even claim that it is just a PR stunt made by the forum itself.

The dictionary contains a general picture of the 11 lines in the city on the front page, followed by a detailed introduction to the stops for each line and their operation hours.

But the majority of the dictionary explains the more than 200 professional terms in the Shanghai metro system, including the easy-to-understand terminology like transportation card, one-platform interchange, and complicated ones like overrunning signal and sliding plug door.

Soon after, Cappuccino posted the content onto the Shanghai Metro Fan Club, with the subway afficionados cheering it as a “classic.”

“If we can hand out this dictionary for free during the Expo, it would definitely help a lot of tourists from other places,” said one netizen called “Zhongshan Park.”

Although according to Cappuccino, the dictionary was designed to aid domestic travelers to the 2010 World Expo with their transportation in Shanghai, but the targeted group disagrees.

Grace Lin, a resident in Beijing, has already booked her tickets to Shanghai in May and told the Global Times that such a dictionary is not user friendly.  “Explanation of complicated terms would be a headache for me. Some free pamphlets in metro stations telling us how to change between different subway lines is good enough for me.”

With the buzz of the in-depth dictionary spreading like wildfire into local newspapers and websites, some suspect it may be a PR stunt by the online forum.

“You can find the name of this online forum in each story. I guess the forum is trying to get more media exposure through the event,” said one public relations industry insider.