Sweden and Switzerland Launch Joint Awareness Program to Help Tourists Tell the Two Countries Apart


(Image: Radoslaw Botev, modified)

Sweden and Switzerland are two countries somewhere in Europe--or so I've heard. They are, it turns out, not the same place, nor interchangeable.

Chinese tourists, however, are not always aware of this:

The problem largely stems from the fact that both nations' names are written similarly in Mandarin - Ruidian (Sweden) and Ruishi (Switzerland) – which begin with the same symbol, according to the Swedish Consul General Victoria Li in China.

The Swedish and Swiss consulates in Shanghai want to find a solution to this problem. So they've jointly launched a contest, inviting people to think of funny ways to tell the countries apart. The winner gets a 12-day trip to both countries. Afterward, the winner must report back on his or her findings.

How would you tell them apart?

-via Dave Barry


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Newest 5 Comments

Dear China,
1) You only have 22 provinces. What were you thinking when you gave 2 of them the same name? (Shanxi and Shaanxi)
2) Why did you decide to place those 2 provinces right next to each other? At least Sweden and Switzerland are separated not only by other countries, but also by a sea.

Remove the plank from your eye before complaining about the speck in Europe's.

Wai Guo
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