In 2009 alone, more than 50 million inbound foreign tourists or visitors came to China. Most of these tourists did not know much about speaking or reading words written in the Chinese language, and so needed professional interpreting agencies or translators to provide the necessary assistance.

Needless to say, the sheer number of such foreign visitors-especially when one takes into account that most of these visitors have business-related purposes-spell massive income for those engaged in the language translation and interpretation fields. Indeed, interpreting in China has become a veritable sunshine industry.

However, while there are those that provide conventional interpreting services such as consecutive interpreting, or simultaneous, or any other tasks that most often require the interpreter to be in the same room as the client, other innovative ways of providing interpreting in China services are sprouting around the country like wild fire in a dry prairie.

Riding the waves of new and better communication technologies, such new ways of servicing language interpretation clients are also becoming pervasive and their importance is most felt whenever the country hosts an important international event, such as the Olympics in 2008.

One of the major new kinds of interpreting services is on-demand interpreting. You see, interpreting in China is sort of lucrative for the educated locals because of the hefty fees they charge their clients.

Hiring interpreters is often inevitable (well, unless you are actually proficient in the Chinese language), as not many foreigners can competently understand or read the major Chinese languages, much less the dialects spoken in small towns or cities far from the capital. And while hiring a bilingual guide is fine for the most part, most foreign visitors in China would still of course prefer to have a rather less expensive option.

Typically, hiring the services of a Chinese interpreter involves having to pay for the interpreter’s daily needs (food, lodging, transportation, what have you) on top of the interpreting or translation charges, and while this arrangement may have its distinct advantages (for instance, you will always have the interpreter or translator by your side at all times, ready to assist you), there might be a few cases that such an arrangement might prove inconvenient for the foreign client.

Therefore, the field of interpreting in China has evolved to accommodate varying requirements according to the client’s needs or convenience. On-demand interpreting provided via a phone call using an easy-to-remember hotline number is great because it frees you from the responsibility or hassle of having a 24-hour guide.

Consider this scenario: you arrive at a Chinese city, and you are lost, you do not know anyone. Good thing you have the hotline number for an on-demand Chinese interpreting service, who provides a step-by-step guidance and can point you to the right direction-much like an actual bilingual guide walking beside you!

Obviously, this is less expensive (often the charge is only a little higher than an ordinary phone call) and you only avail of the service during those moments that you actually need it. And multiply this situation by millions, and you have an industry that sufficiently fills in the gap as far as the matter of interpreting in China is concerned.

Charlene Lacandazo works for Rosetta Translation, one of the leading translation agencies in London, UK and Shanghai, China. Rosetta Translation specialises in providing interpreting in China and also translation services across the country and abroad.

Charlene Lacandazo works for Rosetta Translation, one of the leading http://www.rosettatranslation.com/ translation agencies in London, UK and Shanghai, China. Rosetta Translation specialises in providing http://en.rosettatranslation.com.cn/interpreting/ interpreting in China and also http://en.rosettatranslation.com.cn/ translation services across the country and abroad.

Author Bio: Charlene Lacandazo works for Rosetta Translation, one of the leading translation agencies in London, UK and Shanghai, China. Rosetta Translation specialises in providing interpreting in China and also translation services across the country and abroad.

Category: Culture
Keywords: interpreting in china,chinese interpreting,interpreting services,chinese interpreter