Geese in the Mall

This ad is hanging in Shanghai’s “Cloud 9” (龙之梦) shopping mall:

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First of all the repeating character is , which means “goose.” In the circular logo, you can see a little characterplay going on with the goose head.

Above that, you have “鹅,鹅,鹅” which, of course, reads “goose, goose, goose.” This is a famous first line of a classical Chinese poem. It’s famous because it’s so simple, so a lot of kids memorize it as one of their first (if not the first) classical poems committed to memory.

Here’s the poem in its entirety:

鹅 鹅 鹅,
曲 项 向 天 歌。
白 毛 浮 绿 水,
红 掌 拨 清 波。

And in English (source):

Goose, goose, goose,
You bend your neck towards the sky and sing.
Your white feathers float on the emerald water,
Your red feet push the clear waves.

The banner is an ad for a restaurant, 鹅夫人, or “Madame Goose.”

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John Pasden

John is a Shanghai-based linguist and entrepreneur, founder of AllSet Learning.

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