The Shanghai Metro station which recently opened next to the new sports complex for the 2011 World Aquatics Championship has had a name change. It will now be called simply “Oriental Sports Center” (东方体育中心). Oriental Sports Center station is the terminus of Line 6, as well as serving Line 8.

It is quite unusual for Shanghai Metro stations to be renamed after opening. After several stations on Line 2 were renamed back in 2006, the Shanghai Metro announced it would avoid name changes in future due to passenger confusion and cost.

Pop quiz: which Shanghai Metro station was originally known as Xinlonghua (新龙华)?

View the Metropedia page for Oriental Sports Center for more information and maps. Our online Shanghai metro map is already updated, we’ll have an update for our iPhone app shortly.

The station on Shanghai Metro Line 1 and Line 10 called 陕西南路 in Chinese is one of the busiest stations on the network. But what’s its English name? South Shanxi Road or South Shaanxi Road?

The confusion stems from a number of factors. There are two Chinese provinces with very similar names:
1. 陕西, pinyin Shǎnxī (third tone, first tone)
2. 山西, pinyin Shānxī (two first tones)

Because Chinese place names are often written without tone marks, in order to distinguish the two, the Romanization “Shaanxi” is often used for 陕西. This comes from an older romanization than Hanyu Pinyin, called Gwoyeu Romatzyh.

So, although 陕西南路 in Pinyin is Shǎnxī Nánlù, an acceptable English translation is South Shaanxi Road. This is the most commonly used form on official Shanghai Metro signage and maps, and therefore it’s the version we adopt for Explore Shanghai.