Hello,
just wanted to share this photo from the Taichung bus/train station.
I’m so happy romanisation is existant here and works. I would be so lost if not 
This is the best example I’ve seen so far, anyone got something better?
I still wonder which standard it represents. Yes, I know the city is xinzhu or hsinchu or … well shin jwu. I also remember seeing Myau Lih for Miao Li, but sadly I have no photo of it.
That’s the (thankfully mostly defunct) Guoyeu Romatzyh pinyin system, which features “tonal spelling”. It’s one of about, oh, five competing standards in Taiwan (not including arbitrary spelling or typos).
I remember once seeing highway signs that said something like 新竹-Hsinchu 竹北-Zhubei. Nice to see the same character spelled two different ways on the same sign.
The city of Hsinchu has deliberately chosen to retain its Wade-Giles spelling so that the overseas busineses the companies deal with don’t have to change all the addresses in their databases.
That’s a good one! :bravo: … but I must say, it’s probably closer to the actual pronunciation than Hsinchu or Xinzhu. Anyway, I’m happy with 新竹.
To the north of Hsinchu/Xinzhu/ShinJwu there’s Jupei/Jubei/Chupei/Zhubei, to the est is Judong/Judung/Chudong, and to the south is Junan/Zhunan (no Chunan, yet).
BTW, why doesn’t the pinyin nazi change “Taipei” to “Taibei” and “Taichung” to “Taizhong”? 
Closer to the actual pronunciation? They’re all pronounced the same. Any one of those systems will lead to the same pronounciation if used by someone who knows the system. The problem is that with the exception of Hanyu Pinyin, next to noone actually knows any of the systems. (And there’s also the problem that the systems are used wrongly - Wade-Giles can only be used properly with apostrophes, which are ommitted in Taiwan).
Brian
I think it would be better if the signs had MPS on them. MPS is always the same whereas there are 5 billion (it seems) different pinyins. I understand that not all WaiGuo will learn the 5000 Characters, but there are only 35 or so MPS and they are not hard to learn. And they are gasp consistant.
the problem with MPS is that ppl would have to learn the MPS system first. I do agree with you regarding the pronunciation. I think Romanization sucks, but for those people passing thru for a short time, or those who have no interest in ever learning chinese, Romanization is a better option that MPS.
My preference would be for Hanyu Pinyin to be made the standard Romanization system: 1) It’s the international standard of Romanization; 2) It’s the system that students of Chinese predominantly study; 3) It is the most logical, accurate, easy and aesthetically pleasing system (in my humble opinion, that is).
Add to that the fact that many many people in the PRC are already familiar with Roma Pinyin (please nobody tell me that Hanyu Pinyin and Roma Pinyin are two different systems) and the fact that the pronunciation guides in most Dictionaries for English speaking learners of Chinese are written in Roma Pinyin and it is pretty much a done deal.
No disrespect meant to anyone but arguing for anything but Roma Pinyin for foriegn learners/users of Chinese really makes you look just plain dumb. Trust us on this.
Then why are you in Taipei and not in Taibei?
WTF is “Roma Pinyin”? 
Google has only five results for “Roma Pinyin”… and the only one in English is one of your older posts on Forumosa. 
Anyway, if you mean Hanyu, that’s probably okay for native English speakers… but what about the rest of us?
For me, Hanyu Pinyin doesn’t really make much sense, unless I’m considering the English pronunciation… and maybe not even then.
By the time I learned how to pronounce ch/zh/sh/si/se/etc properly, I had already learned bopomofo… which is a lot less confusing. 
I think the entire romanization shit is just that, shit. I think it is as logical as trying to spell english words with MPS.
Roma Pinyin is what the Taiwanese around me call Pinyin. I learn much of my Mandarin in conversation with Mandarin speakers and so may not always be up on what arises as a result of google searches. Sorry about that.
I have before me a Chinese - English dictionary organized by Pinyin, ie. alphabetically, just like an English dictionairy. If I hear a word and want to know what it means I can look it up in the dictionairy, and I can do so faster frequently than a native speaker of Mandarin could find the same character using whatever system it is that they use to that.
That’s some kinda shit!
Roma Pinyin is what the Taiwanese around me call Pinyin. I learn much of my Mandarin in conversation with Mandarin speakers and so may not always be up on what arises as a result of google searches. Sorry about that.[/quote]
There is no such system as “Roma Pinyin” despite the fact that many Taiwanese seem fond of this term. The term simply means “Roman spelling”; in other words, “Romanization”. It does not refer to any specific system of Romanization.
The use of the term “Roma Pinyin” by Taiwanese is simply a bad yet common habit (like calling Niagara Falls “Nicaragua Falls” or Protestantism “Christianity”). If you ask the average Taiwanese person to describe what “Roma Pinyin” is, they would be clueless. Some will insist that their Wade-Giles name is “Roma Pinyin”; others will say it’s the system used on street signs; others will say it’s the kind used in mainland China.
The system used in mainland China and on Taipei’s street signs is “Hanyu Pinyin”.
Then why are you in Taipei and not in Taibei? [/quote]
Because it hasn’t been implemented yet.
Thanks.
I have before me a Chinese - English dictionary organized by Pinyin, ie. alphabetically, just like an English dictionairy. If I hear a word and want to know what it means I can look it up in the dictionairy, and I can do so faster frequently than a native speaker of Mandarin could find the same character using whatever system it is that they use to that.
That’s some kinda shit![/quote]
And I can type Chinese using Hanyu Pinyin much faster than locals can using bopomofo or Cangjie. Hanyu Pinyin is a very efficient and simple system.
Thanks again.