Mandarin announcements for British train service

A British train service has started making announcements in Mandarin, to aid visitors to a popular shopping outlet. 

A typical British station [Photo: Baidu]

That's according to popular train travel website 'Man in Seat 61.' You can see his tweet about the announcements below: 

[Photo: Man in Seat 61 / Twitter]

As alluded to in the tweet, the announcements are to enable passengers for Bicester Village to recognise the correct station. 

Bicester Village is popular with Chinese visitors to England, and offers a wide selection of brands available for reduced prices.

It's not known when the announcements started. However, Chinese signage has been observed at London Marylebone Station (the terminus of the Bicester line) for several years.

British businesses have been working hard to adapt over recent months to welcome more Chinese guests.

Tourist body VisitBritain runs a GREAT China Welcome Programme – at its centre is the GREAT China Welcome directory. It lists more than 300 businesses including hotels, attractions, retailers and tour operators that are making themselves ‘China-ready.’

They've done that in a number of ways, for example by providing information in Mandarin or Cantonese, and adapting their products for the Chinese market and culture.

According to VisitBritain, a business can apply to become a member of the GREAT China Welcome Charter by providing one or more of the following offerings to Chinese guests: 

1.A product or a service that is of genuine interest to potential Chinese visitors and meets their distinct cultural needs and expectations

2.First-hand experience of welcoming Chinese visitors within the past two years

3.Mandarin or Cantonese speaking staff

4.Translated websites, apps or literature 

5.Visitor information or signage in Mandarin or Cantonese 

6.Visitor-facing staff who have undergone training about Chinese culture and etiquette 

7.Facilities for customers to pay using China UnionPay 

8.Some form of formal collaboration with a peer organisation in China 

9.Businesses can be privately or publicly owned and there is no minimum size