To Lure Chinese Tourists, U.K. Invites Them to Rename Famous Places in Mandarin

Chinese tourists are a huge income source for the U.K., so tourism body VisitBritain called on the skills of a Beijing agency to find a way to entice more of them. Ogilvy & Mather Beijing came up with an online contest that asks prospective Chinese visitors to rename famous places in Great Britain.

The winners will have to come up with the most fitting, amusing, and memorable Chinese names from a pre-defined list of British places, events and things. These 101 points of interest range from well-known tourist sites like Kensington Palace to lesser-known attractions such as Bristol's hot-air balloon festival. As this promotional video reveals, some imaginative names have already been suggested. The idea is that the winners will come to Britain and post photos of themselves at the place they renamed on WeChat and Weibo. VisitBritain hopes this will help people develop a "deeper understanding of Britain."

For a more indepth look at Chinese names for British landmarks, read this story on AdAge.com.