FIVE university students spent their winter vacation translating Chinese menus into English to help overseas students overcome the language barrier.
Five postgraduates at East China Normal University's International College of Chinese Studies spent 55 days translating nearly 1,000 dish names that are served in the university's canteens.
The dishes included stir-fried tofu in hot sauce, rice noodles with beef balls and sauteed sliced chicken with chili peppers.
To guarantee the accuracy and quality of the translations, the students referred to food standards issued before the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
The five students are now contacting school officials to see if the English menus can be used in the canteens.
The students said they had talked to about 100 foreign students and found about 20 percent seldom go to the university's canteens.
Nearly half of those said they don't go because they can't read the Chinese menu.
About 60 percent of the foreign students said they would like to see the menus in English or Pinyin.
Photo story: Brave young mother in the 4th year of university