Can it become so wrong? I mean I can make mistake in any address, and I get cards where people have written something wrong, or something is even missing.
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If the address is provided in non-Roman characters on the website, I highlight them and copy/paste into Word or whatever you might use. Then I type the Roman address underneath it as well. Then I print it out and glue it onto the postcard.
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@rothko there’s no need for another address if you can print the address in receiver’s language, as long as there’s the country name in the last line.
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I don’t like printed addresses or messages, I prefer them by hand! So I handwrite them. Wishing I could write Chinese… but a mistake would be a disaster, so I do Latin letters.
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Perhaps, but my confidence in the US postal system has waned over the last couple years and I’m honestly not sure they’d know what to do with a card that only had the country name on it with nothing else they could read…
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@rothko Do they need to know the city too? Sure I don’t know how your postal system works, maybe they deliver mail straight to certain foreign cities. Here in Finland they only need to know the country.
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Maybe, most of time, the delivers can find the right addresses. But sometimes they can’t.
For example, if you write Zhenjiang like “金真讧”(the right way to write the city name is “镇江”), it’s hard to guess where the destination is.
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In China, postal system should know building numbers, room numbers , [number] {road name}(e.g 166 Jiaoshan Road), direct, city name and province name to make sure arrived at the destination. Postcode in China is not very important and people seldom use it.
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@xiaopangju I meant when sending a card from USA/Finland/Australia to China, in those countries they need to know the country name only, not a street or postal code. So no need to print addresses in both languages if they are given. My reply was to rothko.
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Sorry I have to disagree.
Postcode is very important, as it narrows the range and locates the district, and most importantly reduces possible confusion.
Postal staff may not recognize the name of a street instantly when it’s written in Pinyin, as the same name in English may refer to different places in Chinese. For example, “Anyi Road” may refer to 安义路 in Jing’an district or 安逸路 in Fengxian district. The two roads are written exactly the same in English, but 44km away from each other and both under the same city name. Such phenomenon (same in English, different in Chinese) is very common in China.
Personally I use a specific postcode (detailed to the last number). I once searched it on China Post website and found it includes the range of about 10 roads, while Shanghai is a big city with over 5000 roads. The postal staff who do translation work apparently appreciate it, as all my received cards have the last 3 numbers in the postcode circled to emphasize it.
Another advantage of using a specific postcode is that you don’t need to write a very long address, some parts can be skipped as postcode already tells it.
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I think there is no worry this might happen (of course unless mixing up the lines, but that can happen in any language.); if the writer doesn’t know Chinese, I don’t know how and why they could come up to write it that way. They look totally different already at a glance.
To me this looks like “if you write Alolio (instead of Tornio) it’s hard to know where the destination is”. Of course.
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You are correct.
USPS requires entirely Latin script at a minimum. Rules were changed years ago. UPU requires same. The old rule of “only the country name” no longer applies. There have been reports of USPS returning mail to sender if new rules are not followed so I would not tempt fate.
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If i not know the letters i not print then i draw them because i not can write them. In China 2 or 3 weeks longer if i write them in german letters.
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If the letters aren’t latin letters, I write them in the recipients native language. ^^ No matter if the letters in chinese, japanese or russian. (These are the only non-latin letters I ever wrote)
I do it every time by hand because I also write my postcards (or letters) by hand. So why I shouldn’t do it also for the address? Sure, it take a bit more of time but I want to show the recipients that I’m able to write in yours native language.
(To be honest, printing out non-latin letters and then cut them out is waste of paper for me, because I can’t use the paper for the printer again.)
Writing in one’s native language is also a sign of politeness for me. It’s like I would say “I wrote in your native language, even it took a bit more of time for me”. It doesn’t mean for me that people who don’t do this are rude. It’s just my point of view and how I feel.
I also wonder if my handwriting make people to laugh, while my chinese and japanese letters always looks like melting snow. Sometimes. laugh
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I share your scepticism, but as long as the machines can read the foreign country - USPS has not had a problem.
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i think it s interesting to write in other writing systems
there are departments for translation on addresses in postal system，it does take time to
translate
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I print off the address in the script of that country (where provided), then add the country name in capital letters at the bottom for the benefit of Canada Post 
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I write the Latin script by hand and then use a small label for the native address because I don’t trust myself to write it correctly. I have a (probably unreasonable) fear of the label getting ripped off by a sorting machine, so I figure if that happens at least the handwritten address is still there!
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My view is, I print out addresses that are in Chinese characters, thinking there is more of a chance it’ll reach its destination. But don’t know if true!
I would like to highlight, then copy address onto a label but it won’t let me do that (preferable to glue and sellotape)
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Hi,sir.I do not agree with you.
I am a postcrosser in Qingdao,China,I think post office workers in other countries may not understand Chinese.
Maybe postcards will be discarded because of this.
Sorry, my English is maybe not very good.
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