The Peak District could be known as something new from March

Tourism bosses have announced that a national park is to be renamed.

But the new name for the Peak District will only apply in China, where some British place names are difficult to translate or even become meaningless in Chinese languages.

The Peak District is one of 101 places around Britain selected by national tourism agency VisitBritain to feature in a campaign which invites Chinese people to come up with the most fitting, amusing, meaningful, and memorable Chinese names.

The idea forms part of a 10-week advertising campaign to help attract even more visitors from the rapidly growing Chinese tourism market, and encourage Chinese visitors to travel further afield around Britain.

Councillor Lesley Roberts, chair of the Peak District National Park Authority, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to be part of the campaign. It’s a great way to let even more people know what a fabulous place the Peak District national park is to visit.

“It will be fascinating to see what name is chosen, and the most important thing is that we will be reaching millions of potential new visitors.’’

Joss Croft, marketing director at VisitBritain, said: “Names are very important in China and this campaign will raise the profile of the Peak District national park.

“This is a fun way of getting Chinese people to think about and describe some places in Britain, especially as some of the British names of these places or things are meaningless or difficult to literally translate or even pronounce for the Chinese.”

In 2013 China was Britain’s 13th most important tourism market in terms of revenue. The number of Chinese nationals travelling overseas is expected to top 100 million this year for the first time.

The Peak District national park’s new Chinese name is likely to be unveiled in March. According to Google Translate, Peak District is currently Shāndǐng qū or 山顶区 in simplified Chinese.