Great (Chinese) Names for Great Britain | innovative tourism campaign

On Chinese social media, people have been getting creative, renaming famous British landmarks for a VisitBritain tourism campaign. Fancy a trip to the Strong Man Skirt Party or up the Tower allowing us to Pluck the Stars from the Sky? Imaginative and fun, this looks like real cultural tourism.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vha2DVPLIk8

VisitBritain, the national tourism agency, believes that creating Mandarin names for Britain’s famous sites will promote engagement between the British and Chinese populations and encourage more people in China to choose Britain as a holiday destination.

As part of its ‘GREAT names for GREAT Britain’ campaign, which has been carried out on social media over the past couple of months, the agency has invited Chinese consumers to come up with the best names for 101 of Britain’s most loved attractions, as well as a range of lesser-known places around the country. People make their suggestions through a micro-site and on social media, with the aim of getting them to travel to Britain and take photos of themselves experiencing some of the renamed landmarks.

Read more about the GREAT Names for GREAT Britain campaign

Image: The Shard in London has been rechristened Zhai Xing Ta in Mandarin, which means ‘the tower that allows us to pluck stars from the sky’. Photograph: Cultura Travel/Richard Seymour/Getty Images