Indian tourism board puts up signages in Mandarin to lure Chinese tourists.

Signages in Chinese language have cropped up at the Qutub Minar’’s Iron Pillar and five other tourist sites in Uttar Pradesh under the Tourism Ministry’s plan to attract more tourists from the neighbouring country. The five sites in Uttar Pradesh which have got sign boards in Mandarin include archaeological remains in Sarnath, Chaukhandi Stupa, Mahaparinirvana Temple in Kushinagar, Piprahwa and Sravasti which are visited by tourists from China because of their importance for Buddhists. The ministry has also taken a decision to put up signages in other foreign languages at major destinations as part of a plan to attract 20 million foreign tourists by 2020, officials said. Under the plan, the ministry has installed sign boards in Sinhalese, the language spoken by a majority of Sri Lankans, at the Sanchi Stupa in Madhya Pradesh, they said. The sign boards in Sinhalese have been put up after a survey indicated that over 30 lakh Sri Lankans visit the site annually. They are followed by about three lakh tourists from South Korea, the officials said. While 50 lakh Chinese tourists travel globally, India”s share currently is only 3.5 lakh per annum. The other sites which will be covered to include sign boards in Mandarin, a major language spoken in China, are Nalanda, Rajgir, Vaishali, Kesharia, Vikramshila, Kidhinagar, Kapilavastu, Bhashut and Satdhara. While Chinese tourists are the top priority, the ministry is also planning to put up sign boards in Sinhalese, Japanese and Korean at places like Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh and Bodh Gaya in Bihar.