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Both nations' names are written similarly in Mandarin - Ruidian (Sweden) and Ruishi (Switzerland).
The two European nations - one known for its chocolate, cheese and watches; the other for Ikea, Volvo and the Seventies pop band Abba - have often been confused for each other among the Chinese.
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.
In an effort to put an end to the mix-up, the Swedish and Swiss consulates in Shanghai have launched a competition on the Swedish Consulate website, asking Chinese people to come up with funny ways to help differentiate the two countries. Submissions can be accepted as a blog post, cartoon, photo, short film or in any other format.
The winner with the best submission will receive a 12-day trip to Sweden and Switzerland and will be expected to report back on their impressions of both countries following the trip, the website states. Entries will be accepted until November 20.
The organisers have also devised a humorous campaign logo portraying a montage of objects and people associated with Sweden and Switzerland on separate maps of each country.
Sweden’s map features meatballs, a Viking, Pippi Longstocking from Astrid Lindgren’s books, as well as two male cartoon figures with a heart between them symbolising gay marriage, which remains illegal in Switzerland. Switzerland's map features cheese, fondue, the Alps and a picture of Roger Federer.
China may not be the only country struggling to tell Sweden and Switzerland apart. Residents of Spanish-speaking countries also fall victim to the confusion as Sweden is spelt 『Suecia』 in Spanish while Switzerland is called 『Suiza』.
Sweden and Switzerland aren't the only destinations that have caused confusion among travellers. Last month, a British holidaymaker hoped to explore the architecture of the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain, but instead mistakenly caught a flight across the Atlantic to the tropical Caribbean island of Grenada following a confusing booking blunder. Earlier this summer, two US holidaymakers were flown to the wrong continent after an airline confused two airport codes.
The misconception between Sweden and Switzerland isn't the only incident for which Chinese tourists have recently come under the light. Last month, Communist Party tourism chiefs issued a 「Guidebook for Civilised Tourism」urging first-time Chinese travellers to cut back on poor behaviour including public displays of nose-picking, swimming pool-soiling and the discussion of pork in a bid to improve the country’s image overseas.
China was the biggest spender in international tourism last year, overtaking Italy, Japan, France and Britain, and is the world's fastest-growing tourism source market, according to the latest figures from the World Tourism Organization earlier this year.
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在普通話中，這兩個國家名字寫起來有點相似——瑞典（Ruidian）和瑞士（Ruishi）。
這兩個歐洲國家，其中一個以它的巧克力，奶酪和手錶聞名，另一個則以宜家家居，沃爾沃汽車以及70年代流行樂隊Abba而著名。而中國人卻經常把兩者搞混。
據瑞典駐上海總領事維多利亞（Victory Li）女士說，造成這一問題的很大原因在於這兩個國家的名字在中國普通話中寫起來有點相似——瑞典（Sweden）和瑞士（Switzerland），他們的第一個字相同。
為了終止這一混淆，瑞典駐上海領事館近日攜手瑞士駐上海領事館在瑞典領事館網站上啟動了一項創意比賽，邀請中國人民以新穎幽默的方式正確區別出這兩個國家。表現形式不限，可以是一篇文章、一幅畫、一組照片或一部短片，也可以是其他任何形式。
最佳作品的提交者將獲勝，並享有到瑞典和瑞士12日遊的機會，隨後他可以報告他旅行後關於這兩個國家的印象以及網站狀態。提交參賽作品的日期將截止到11月20號。
同時組織者還設計了一個幽默的活動標誌，在這兩個國家各自的地圖上以蒙太奇式手法塑造了一些與瑞典和瑞士相關人和事物。
瑞典地圖的特色是肉丸，北歐海盜，阿斯特麗·德林格倫書中的長襪子皮皮，以及象徵同性婚姻的一幅心連心的兩個男性同性戀圖片，而同性婚姻在瑞士還是不合法的。而瑞士地圖則以奶酪，奶酪火鍋，阿爾卑斯山和羅傑·德勒的照片為特色。
但是，中國並不是唯一一個會把瑞典和瑞士搞混的國家。講西班牙語的國家的民眾也經常混淆，他們常把瑞典拼成瑞士，而把瑞士拼成瑞典。
瑞典和瑞士並不是唯一會造成旅客困惑的的目的地。上個月，一位英國度假者希望去探索在西班牙格拉納達的阿蘭布拉宮的建築，卻因為預訂混淆了，從而坐錯了飛機，橫跨大西洋到了格瑞那達的熱帶加勒比島。今年夏天早些時候，兩名美國遊客，因為機場弄混了他們的機場代碼，而被空運到錯誤的大陸。
中國人對於瑞典和瑞士之間的誤解最近已得到重視。上個月，中國國家旅遊局提出了「文明旅遊」，「為了提高我國的海外形象，敦促首次旅遊的中國遊客儘量減少不文明行為，如挖鼻子，汙染遊泳池以及討論豬肉相關的話題」。
中國是國際旅遊市場中最大的消費國。據今年早些時候世界旅遊組織的最新數據顯示，去年，中國超過了義大利、日本、法國和英國，成為世界上增長最快的旅遊客源市場。
（譯者 godness 編輯 丹妮）