I have this running list of things I would do if I ruled the world. One of them is to DNA test every corpse and close out some cold cases that way.
Another thing is that the name of a place would be the same in every language. Everyone would call it Zhongguo, no one would call it China or Cine or whatever.
I'm not saying that just because of the Italian Monaco thing -- I once had a long conversation (read: argument) in Italian with someone about various things about Monaco. Turns out in Italian, if you're uncertain about where Monaco is, you need to specify: the principality of Monaco (Monaco), or the Monaco of Bavaria (the city we call Munich). Instead of Italians calling that city Monaco (or Monaco di Bavaria), and us calling it Munich, everyone would call it Munchen, same as the Germans do.
I came across this map, and it turns out someone else has had the same idea. I think the map is subtitled in Polish, but all names appear to be in their native language, even when it's using an alphabet/characters that we don't have.
In general I like and agree with the idea, but when you end up with things like 北京 , the ability to look at a map and figure things out and pronounce them is non-trivial and you likely end up with 北京 (Beijing) as a result ... don't know the best overall solution, but I like your approach :)
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