The C-E translation of the names of scenic spots plays an important role in attracting foreign visitors. China is a big and populated country which is rich in tourism resources. There are a lot of kinds of landscapes in China, such as natural landscapes, human landscapes and the landscapes with integration of nature and human. These abundant tourism resources are widely distributed in different dialect areas, which is the characteristic of China’s tourism resources. However, it also leads to the ambiguity of foreign visitors’ unified understanding. It is not conducive to promote China’s scenic attractions.
At present, there exist numerous problems with English translations of the names of scenic attractions,such as wrong or obsolete spellings,a place with several English names, inaccurate semantic expressions, cultural misinformation, and so on. Therefore, translators must improve their own professional quality, cultural knowledge, language competence and translation quality. In addition, they should master the approaches of translating the names of scenic spots, and with the responsible and rigorous attitude to translate Chinese scenic spots into English, and to do their bit in advancing the further development of China’s tourism and international tourism. Meanwhile, the tourism departments must pay high attention to the C-E translation of the names of scenic spots and make policies and regulations to standardize the translation of the names of scenic spots.
II. The Characteristics and Functions of the Names of Scenic Spots
The names of scenic spots are the titles and logos of scenic spots. The obvious difference between names of scenic spots and place names is that the former one can tell visitors the names of scenic spots, and can make visitors know what they are and the rich cultural meaning of them. So, the names of scenic spots have their characteristics and functions.
2.1 The Characteristics of the Names of Scenic Spots
The names of scenic spots are often short and pithy .The origins of them often have their unique reasons. Some names of scenic attractions are named of their shapes. For example, “Longbei Mountain”(龙背山)in Yixing, “Slender West Lake”(瘦西湖)in Yangzhou and “Tortoise Head Garden”(鼋头渚)in Wuxi and so on. Some names are named of historical events and historical allusions. China has a long history of more than 5000years, and also has many historical sites. such as “Ancient Huai’an Governor’s Mansion”(淮安府署)in Huai’an, “Memorial Hall for Victims of Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Military Forces”(侵华日军南京大屠杀遇难同胞纪念馆)in Nanjing , “Donglin Academy”(东林书院)in Wuxi etc. Some are named of myths and legends. Such as “Pengzu Park”(彭祖园)in Xuzhou and “ Flower and Fruit Mountain”(花果山) in Lian Yungang. Other names are related to religions and have the characteristics of religious cultures. Such as “Daming Temple”(大明寺) in Yangzhou and “Grand Buddha at Lingshan” (灵山大佛)in Wuxi. From here we can see that the names of scenic spots reflect the information about geography, history, culture and so on. They are not only good for visitors to know about natural landscapes and human landscapes, but also are good for visitors to develop their knowledge and broaden their horizon. 浅析江苏名胜古迹名称的英译(2):http://www.751com.cn/yingyu/lunwen_24885.html