English was a completely new foreign language to most Chinese people at the beginning of nineteenth century. My research on the social acceptance of English reveals that English was a cultural phenomenon rather than an academic subject when it first entered China. How English was circulated among different groups of local people? What cultural consequences did a foreign language bring to a treaty port society? This study examines how Western languages and ideas influenced the native social life in China two centuries ago, and demonstrates how language transformation became one of the historical stimuli that shaped an urban linguistic landscape. A particular focus is set on ordinary people's oral and visual English throughout their daily practices. By investigating how English in an oral-visual format became embedded in the social activities of local Chinese, the book traces the history of how English turned into part of local people's vernacular repertoire. The book is addressed to professionals in Cross-Cultural and Urban-Cultural Studies. It is also directed towards researchers in Cultural Linguistics, Sinology, and Pre-Modern Chinese History.
