Name-dropping is the order of the day

What they say

Using foreign names for Chinese places is a reflection of those who worship foreign cultures. As the Chinese saying goes: "The moon in a foreign country is always rounder than that in China." Some foreign names sound fancy, but they lack decent cultural meanings. In addition, certain foreign names have been used in multiple places around China. Couldn't they have found better foreign words? The naming of geographical places should demonstrate the essence of Chinese culture and the history of a place.

Li Zhaoqing, writing on the Red Pepper online forum

In a liberal society, a government should not interfere in social affairs too much. The government should pay more attention to major issues.

"Sui Yuan Y9SY", writing on Sina Weibo

Geographical names are basic public information and carry the long-held memories or impressions of local residents. Therefore, the names themselves carry the history and the culture of places. The renaming of a place usually erases the information carried by the name. In recent years, the renaming trend has been far too capricious, and plenty of names with profound cultural meanings have disappeared. Bizarre foreign names have resulted in a great loss of the culture embodied in the names.

Shui Hongbo, writing on the Red Pepper online forum

The ban should not be exercised on every single place. The names of roads and streets should be standardized, but the names of residential compounds should not be strictly regulated because they are not geographical names and should be selected with a "free market" approach.

"Tongting Xiaomaque", writing on the Red Pepper online forum