Shanghai road signs replaced, addresses included

City officials will soon begin replacing Shanghai's more than 20,000 street signs with blue markers that include street numbers. The project is expected to be completed before the 2010 World Expo begins.

The new signs have a blue background and are more than twice the size of existing street signs. They will list street numbers in both directions to help pedestrians and drivers, and will be set up on every corner of an intersection, officials said on Friday.

"We want the new street signs to be clearer and easier to recognize," said Qian Jianguo, an official of Shanghai Engineering Administrative Bureau.

He said bureau officials selected the new sign from three candidates after talking to the public.

The new signs will also use more standard English and pinyin to cut down on confusion. Currently, the sign at Gonghexin Road reads "New Gonghe Road," which is not how the street is labeled on many maps, and Xizang Road M. is labelled "Central Tibet Road."