Not Exactly Chingrish, but...

So, here's another simple picture story.

China is also a land of many stores that feature English names, for reasons that escape any notion of logic. I find them in places where the number of English-speaking Chinese people is almost nil, but even in a place like Shanghai, there aren't that many. Nevertheless, they probably think it helps branding somehow, making it seem classier or more international. Whatever.A lot of the time it just ends up sounding weird. On with the pictures!

Okay, so technically nothing wrong with this. But as far as I know, Chinese people have never heard of Charlie Brown. So why is there a Charlie Brown based cafe in Beijing? Beats me, though it probably doesn't hurt that this is in an area with a fairly large number of international students. Guest appearances from Jon Calkins and Christine Le.

This was a chocolate shop in Shenzhen. If you don't know who the historical Leonidas is, he was the king of Sparta during the events of the movie 300. THIS IS CHOCOLATE? I guess. Probably the average person doesn't find this that amusing, but the history buff in me can't help but think that the use of the name of one of the fiercest kings of all history for a chocolate shop is just . . . delicious. 

Also in Shenzhen, its nice to know that stereotypes transcend borders. In addition to being unaware of Charlie Brown and Leonidas, most people in China have probably never known anyone from Mexico. So to have a store called Mexican is a bit spurious; it doesn't help that none of the goods in it are even designed to look like they're from Mexico.

This one's in Shanghai, I think, but maybe not. Maybe it was also in Shenzhen. Either way, I'm pretty sure its a clear winner.