http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7991532/replace-multiple-texts-with-their-corresponding-texts-in-xml-using-python

input.xml

<workspace>
 <dataset>
  <dataelement>
   <name>
    POP
   </name>
   <fields>
    <field>
     <name>
      State
     </name>
     <aliasname>
      ?
     </aliasname>
    </field>
    <field>
     <name>
      City
     </name>
     <aliasname>
      ??
     </aliasname>
    </field>
   </fields>
  </dataelement>
 </dataset>
</workspace>

output.xml

<workspace>
 <dataset>
  <dataelement>
   <name>
    POP
   </name>
   <fields>
    <field>
     <name>
      State
     </name>
     <aliasname>州</aliasname>
    </field>
    <field>
     <name>
      City
     </name>
     <aliasname>都市</aliasname>
    </field>
   </fields>
  </dataelement>
 </dataset>
</workspace>

replace-name-alias.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
import  xml.etree.cElementTree as etree

en2jp = {u"State": u"州", u"City": u"都市", u"Town": u"町"} # English -> Japanese

tree = etree.parse('input.xml')
for field in tree.iterfind('.//fields/field'):
    name, alias = [field.find(tag) for tag in ['name', 'aliasname']]
    if name is None or alias is None: continue
    alias.text = en2jp.get(name.text.strip(), alias.text)
tree.write('output.xml', encoding='utf-8')