Since 2001, has pinyin begun to appear in day-to-day writing? Cursory image searches puts it on street signs and a mention of National Common Language Law promu

Since 2001, has pinyin begun to appear in day-to-day writing? Cursory image searches puts it on street signs and a mention of National Common Language Law promulgating its use. If someone forgets a hanzi, is a pinyin substitute acceptable? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language#Other_phonetic_transcriptions http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language#Other_phonetic...