An understandable, yet slightly hilarious, mix up is happening among Chinese tourists.
The Telegraph reports that the countries of Sweden (land of Ikea) and Switzerland (land of delicious chocolate) are often mistaken for each other among the Chinese.
The confusion steams from the similarity between the countries' names in Mandarin -- Sweden is written as Ruidian, Switzerland is written as Ruishi. Both countries names begin with the same Chinese character.
With hopes of remedying the situation, both the Swiss and Swedish consulates in Shanghai are launching a funny little competition.
The competition invites Chinese citizens to come up with humorous ways to correctly differentiate between the two countries. Submissions can be in the form of a blog, cartoon, photo, short film -- pretty much anything goes.
“The best three pieces of work will be awarded generous prizes, and the winner will receive a 12-day trip to both Sweden and Switzerland for two,” the Swedish Consulate states on its webpage.
Chinese tourists are often at the center of attention in the travel world -- in 2012 alone Chinese tourists spent $102 billion on international tourism. In October, the Chinese National Tourism Administration issued a tourist etiquette guide with some bizarre advice.
Here's to hoping all the confusion clears up and no one else ends up in Sweden looking for the Swiss alps or in Switzerland searching for Swedish meatballs!
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