Why was Canton changed to Guangzhou?

[LUNN]

Not just that but Chinese seem to be imposing their language on even the autonomous regions, all are recognised by their Chinese names internationally, and business dealings are conducted using those names, for example Sinkiang is referred to as Xinjiang, Urumchi is spelt as Urumqi, Kashgar is listed as Kashi, IATA, OAG etc. all refer to these places with their Chinese names.

Yet Tibet which is called Xizang or something like that is referred to as Tibet in all dealing internationally, and its capital Lhasa which also has a Chinese name is dealt as Lhasa only, why the double standards?

[avro_arrow_25206]

Those old names such as Canton, Peking etc., were "Europeanized" names mainly given by the Europeans who conduct business there. In the 20th century, especially since the Communists took over, there was again a renewed effort to unify the Chinese, and Putonghua was made the official language of China, and with that comes the standard Putonghua pronunciation.

They changed all the Europeanized place names to standard Putonghua pronon., so Canton is Guangdong, Peking is Beijing etc.

I guess Tibet and Hong Kong retained their old spelling possibly due to the special nature of the regions? (And let's face it, Hong Kong just isn't the same when you say Xiangong instead )

[MaxPower]

I guess Tibet and Hong Kong retained their old spelling possibly due to the special nature of the regions? (And let's face it, Hong Kong just isn't the same when you say Xiangong instead )

what would be the ICAO or IATA code for Xiangong ?

[avro_arrow_25206]

what would be the ICAO or IATA code for Xiangong ?

Well since PEK and CAN didn't change, among others, I would say Xiangong would stay HKG.
But given the choice, I would take something like... XGG. Actually anything beats the boring HKG!

[MaxPower]

Well since PEK and CAN didn't change, among others, I would say Xiangong would stay HKG.
But given the choice, I would take something like... XGG. Actually anything beats the boring HKG!

this would blow people though, well im not saying non-aviation people even knows where PEK or CAN is .. but XGG ? .. hahah . anyway HKG is much easier to interpret what this is ..

[avro_arrow_25206]

this would blow people though, well im not saying non-aviation people even knows where PEK or CAN is .. but XGG ? .. hahah . anyway HKG is much easier to interpret what this is ..

It's no big deal for a person like me from Canada. We get used to YYZ, YQX. YXX, YYC, YUL, YYG etc.

[babypurin]

Those old names such as Canton, Peking etc., were "Europeanized" names mainly given by the Europeans who conduct business there. In the 20th century, especially since the Communists took over, there was again a renewed effort to unify the Chinese, and Putonghua was made the official language of China, and with that comes the standard Putonghua pronunciation.

They changed all the Europeanized place names to standard Putonghua pronon., so Canton is Guangdong, Peking is Beijing etc.

I guess Tibet and Hong Kong retained their old spelling possibly due to the special nature of the regions? (And let's face it, Hong Kong just isn't the same when you say Xiangong instead )

Other countries have also experienced this effect: India, for example has seen numerous cities change back into their former names.

[avro_arrow_25206]

Other countries have also experienced this effect: India, for example has seen numerous cities change back into their former names.

That's true.
In the case of India though, the change isn't as "successful" yet. What I mean is you can still occasionally find heated debates of Bombay vs. Mumbai, whereas everyone has pretty much accepted the Chinese names

[LUNN]

What about the autonomous regions besides Tibet, why do they have to have their official names in Putonghua as you say, why cant Urumqi be officially used as Urumchi and Kashi as Kashgar etc.

[HKG-YUL]

Urumqi is basically the same as Urumchi, the same Mandarin pronunciation, but it's just a matter of which pronunciation system was used. It would only make sense that one system was used throughout the country so that every Chinese person can understand and pronounce the name the same way. Just has it that in the Putonghua Pinyin system, the "chi" sound is spelled as "qi" (for example Qingtao, not Chingtao). Like it would be total chaos if some British people start spelling Lundun, while others spell London. (Not a perfect comparison, but you see the idea)


As for the different english names for the Autonomous Regions, I believe it has to do with recognition or keeping an established name instead of changing to the Chinese-translated name and have more trouble. I think not many people would recognize first hand when they read Xijang, Xianggang, or Aomen, instead of Tibet, Hong Kong, or Macau. Even the name China is a western-given name and officials have not changed it back to Zhongguo, or even better, Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo (which litterally translates to People's Republic of China).