Restaurateurs have been given a list of the proper English names for the most commonly mistranslated items, including "virgin chicken" for a young chicken dish, "steamed crap" instead of crab, and "burnt lion's head" describing Chinese pork meatballs.

"These translations either scare or embarrass foreign customers and may cause misunderstanding on China's diet habits," the state news agency said.

Some of the signs have been celebrated on websites and books, including one sign that greets Western visitors to a café with the words: "Welcome big nose friends" and another for the Tibetan "Reception Centre for the Unorganised Tourists".

English speakers in Beijing have been invited to visit "Racist Park" - more accurately translated as the Park of Ethnic Minorities - and warned to take care on wet roads as "the slippery are very crafty".