
Ask HN: Why do Chinese datasheets have these iconic serif fonts? - npgatech
I&#x27;ve compiled a few random screenshots here: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;a&#x2F;S5PyL<p>I&#x27;ve always wondered this. Sometimes the font is Times New Roman (perhaps a default in Chinese operating systems?) and sometimes it is this iconic font (https:&#x2F;&#x2F;i.imgur.com&#x2F;2OX6RgY.png) that is not to be found in the west.<p>It is so prevalent that Shenzhen I&#x2F;O, an assembly programming game used same fonts in their mock datasheets: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.pdf-archive.com&#x2F;2016&#x2F;10&#x2F;10&#x2F;shenzhen-io-manual&#x2F;preview&#x2F;page&#x2F;30&#x2F;
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lurenjia
The font is SimSun. It is the default font in Windows XP simplified Chinese
version and is ubiquitously used in China.

[https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/中易宋体](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/中易宋体)

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arkitaip
I've wondered about this for years! Japanese tends to have similar class of
fonts, e.g. plain/old school looking serif fonts. Metafilter seems to have
pretty good answers [0].

[0] [https://ask.metafilter.com/87263/Why-does-Chinese-
printing-o...](https://ask.metafilter.com/87263/Why-does-Chinese-printing-of-
Latin-characters-always-use-the-same-font)

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billconan
because times new roman doesn't support Chinese characters. there are other
Chinese fonts do support english characters. you are probably looking at the
english characters rendered by a default Chinese font.

