These Quirky Street Signs Will Not Be Missed in China

If you’ve walked around a major city or tourist site in China lately, you may have come across several blue and white plaques that resemble typical Chinese street signs but don’t display actual street names.

Instead, they feature the message “I miss you in XX” in Chinese (wozai xx hen xiangni 我在XX很想你), with ‘XX’ being the name of the city.  These signs are usually intended to serve as a heartfelt greeting from the city to its visitors.

These gimmick plaques first appeared in 2022 and now can be seen everywhere across China, usually in places popular with travelers. Some say, “The city of XX is missing you” or “I am waiting for you in XX.”

Initially, travelers viewed these signs as landmarks worthy of social media-friendly photography.

However, the novelty of these signs is beginning to wear off. As a result, some locations have modified their message to make it less cliched and more distinctive. For example, this sign below says, “I am too busy to miss you in Wuzhen,” a historic scenic town in East China’s Zhejiang province.

Some media pundits have questioned the legality of such signs and complained about how tired the trend is. In response to the fad, netizens have humorously switched out the word ‘you’ (你, ni) with ‘die’ (死, si) in the signs to read “I want to die in XX.”

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