‘Healthy-lung Village’ is a close translation of the Chinese phrase designed to describe Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwlllantysiliogogogoch because you need good lung power to say it in one go. ‘Silver Peak’ is a more straightforward depiction of Mount Snowdon.
What is it all for? It is part of a campaign devised by Visit Britain to attract more Chinese tourists to the UK. It follows a Chinese tradition of giving pet Mandarin names to favourite places. It is hoped that the Chinese names will give tourists a special affinity with places in Wales and encourage them to visit.
Manon Antoniazzi, chief executive of Visit Wales said the history of Wales, the landscape, the food and the unique character of the country all appeal to the Chinese market. Chinese visitors tend to stay longer and spend more than other tourists. It is thought that every 22 additional Chinese tourists create one extra job in tourism.
Anglesey’s Principal Tourism and Marketing Officer, Iwan Huws, hoped that the use of descriptive Mandarin names would attract many more Chinese visitors to Anglesey but he emphasised that all visitors can expect a warm Welsh welcome.
It is ironic that Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwlllantysiliogogogoch has been given an alternative name to boost tourism in the twenty-first century when the original name was a nineteenth-century invention designed to bring notoriety to the village and boost trade by giving it ‘the longest place name in the world’.
Visitors to ‘Healthy-lung’ or Llanfairpwll will have the opportunity to inspect the vast shopping emporium of James Pringle Weavers where you can buy everything from Welsh whisky to ladies’ fashions alongside the restored Victorian station house on the main London-Holyhead line. At the other end of the village is the oldest Women’s Institute in the UK which was established in 1915. The Marquess of Anglesey’s Column stands tall, overlooking the Menai Strait, depicting the soldier with his artificial leg from the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. On the shore of the Strait, there is a monument to Admiral Nelson who lost his life at Trafalgar in 1805. A mile or so south along the A4080 you will find Plas Newydd, the country seat of the Marquess of Anglesey, a beautiful house with a prime position on the Strait and outstanding views of Snowdonia. The National Trust is keen to maintain the original informality of this engaging family home and gardens. The most famous aspect of the house is probably the mural by the talented artist Rex Whistler with its coded references to family members in the 1930s.
Anglesey offers mile after mile of golden beaches and the stunning Anglesey Coastal Path, excellent local produce and fine cuisine, wonderful wildlife reserves, historic buildings and a rich and colourful past. You can best enjoy the delights of Anglesey by booking an attractive cottage by the sea with Coastal Holidays. For full details of our wide range of properties to suit couples, families, groups large and small, with or without dogs, go to www.coastalholidays.net, email your requirements to [email protected] or ring us on 01248 430190 and we will be glad to help.