The barrier of the parking lot at the Chungshan Athletic Center announces: “禁止進入 STOP ENTER.” If STOP ENTER makes any sense at all, it means first stop and then come on in. But who can deny that “stop” means 禁止?

But my all time favorite appeared on a hand dryer in the men's toilet in the? Tainan Train Station: “烘手機 BAKE CALL PHONE”. Can you decode that? 烘, bake, 手機 cell phone. The sound you hear is a thousand English teachers sobbing.

The question is, who is this written for? If you can't read Chinese, much of the ‘English’ in Taiwan makes no sense at all, so for whose benefit are these signs provided?

Furthermore, do we need English everywhere? If you ask me, we would be better off providing more trash cans, so tourists do not have to wander around all day clutching an empty paper cup with no place to discard it!

Trash. Not general garbage.