Does 'People's Republic of China' always need a 'the' in front of it?

[Milkybar_Kid]

Hello,

 

I'm writing a letter to a friend in China and only have their address in English. Do I need to write a 'The' in front of 'People's Republic of China' on the envelope so it reads 'The People's Republic of China'?

 

On a related note: when using 'People's Republic of China' in a sentence, I definitely need the article 'the' before it, correct?

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[imron]

I'd normally write something like:

 

Some Person,

Some Address,

Some City,

Some Province

P.R. China   100083

[ChTTay]

When my family has posted things here to me they've always just written "China". Is it really necessary to write the rest?

[imron]

China can sometimes be confused with the Republic of China, i.e. Taiwan.

[Geiko]

I do it like ChTTay, I only write China / Taiwan, omitting the P.R. / R.O.C. thing. I doubt anybody in my country knows what the Republic of China is...

[ChTTay]

#3 has a name! :-)

[Geiko]

You're right, ChTTay, no offense intended! I've already edited my post.

[Zeppa]

Milkybar_Kid,

Yes, if you write it in a sentence it has 'The' in front. But in an address, if you write the whole thing out, leave out the 'The'. It's a kind of abbreviation, but it would look odd not to abbreviate it.

[Lu]

I agree that hardly anyone will know that 'Republic of China' is a thing and is not the regular China, but I still write 'PR China' and 'Taiwan ROC' on envelopes. Just because everyone gets it wrong doesn't mean I should too.

 

OP, on mail I usually leave off the 'The', but it doesn't matter if you leave it in, the mail will arrive just as well. In text, you need to leave in the 'the', as others already said.

[Demonic_Duck]

I've heard that writing "People's Republic of China" (full name, "The" is normally omitted) has the least chance of getting your letter lost in transit.

 

Just make sure you don't omit "People's". That really would be confusing.

[ChTTay]

Mail clerk 1: "China? Where's that? Never heard of it ..."

Mail clerk 2: "China? OHHH!!! They must mean The Peoples Republic of China!"

Mail clerk 1: "Oh? why wouldn't they just write that?"

[roddy]

I think there are stories from way back of letters being held up within China, or rejected, as they didn't give the country its 'proper' name. You can actually imagine at some points in Chinese history someone having to write a self-criticism for getting letters from foreigners who didn't use the correct form. Nowadays, I'd be surprised if it's an issue, but the Royal Mail is quite clear

The full country name 'THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA' must appear as the last line of the address.