So, this is what we read in the newspapers. Kids 4 years old going to English lessons. Youngsters going on summer camps in the USA. Before the Olympics the great majority of the Beijingers had learned “basic English”, according to China Daily.
According to some Chinese, there are also too many foreigners in China, a complete joke – China is one of the countries in the world with the lowest amount of foreigners relative to the population. How many are we in China? According to the authorities who are known to have either no clue or good at giving unreliable information, we are less than one million. So, make the % calculation yourself. Of course all foreigners are concentrated in Sanlitun, giving the impression we are so many.
China is way behind in adapting to the international scene, as nearly nobody speaks English. Most PhDs returning from UK and USA after many years still cannot write a decent e-mail. Public signs are often wrong, at least they provide good entertainment. They could ask a foreigner to help check it (for free) but that would be loss of face I guess. Or maybe they simply can’t find anybody. I could suggest to them to place an ad in The Beijinger.
Chinese love to laugh with us speaking poor Chinese, or laughing with foreigners using T-shirts that carry real silly Chinese characters. Well, we have our turn too.

Chinese TV is a good example to show their advanced status of ignorance.
Here you need to stand on your head to see what they tried to say. Actually nobody is supposed to read any of the English stuff around. They print it just to look exotic, like on real estate ads. Or like the facial tissues I use. “Mind Act Upon Mind” it declares. I use it to wipe my forehead but my mind has till now not responded. I keep on trying.
Not to be surprised by the number of websites that show all the funny English signs, some also from Japan (another great country for its international language capabilities). One among many is http://www.engrish.com/.