All About China > Chinese Culture And Festivals

Guangdong province migration

(1/5) > >>

Oiler1:
I'm not that up to date on migration of people within China but I have noticed that everything I contact a woman who is in Guangdong province they speak Mandarin rather than Cantonese.

I speak a little Cantonese but have yet to find a lady that speaks it. I am assuming a lot of people from other provinces have migrated to the south in hopes of getting a better job there? I know Guangdong is more prosperous than most provinces so if any other can clue me in on my assumptions please do.

raymond-:
during economy boom, many folks from the villages flocked to larger, metro locations, eshewing their
farming roots for hopes of fortune, ergo the switch to manuf, high tech etc.   as the recent economy
waned, many are left in limbo.....or having to make tough decisions to go back to the country.  the
young adults may not even know how to farm so it's a difficult transition for many folks.

so yes, Guangzhou saw large influx of Mandarin speakers....as did other large cities like Shanghai etc

when the new bullet train is completed to Guandong province, we'll see more of this, even with the
bobbing economy

maxx:
The Chinese goverment teaches Manderin in the schools.With so many dilects of Chinese.They had to do somethng to get eveybody on the same page.

You want to find out somethig interesting about your lady ask her how many different dilects of Chinese she speaks.My wife can speak about 5 different dilects and understand about 10.

David5o:
Scott is right, Mandarin is the standard language of China now. The communists during the cultural revolution all but killed off the other dialects on the mainland. Though some areas did manage to hang on to their own dilect
They also brought in the simplified Chinese characters, almost  totally eradicating the traditional Chinese  characters.
There were 4 Main dialects as i understand it, but i only know of 3 of them Mandarin, Cantonese, Fushing (i think that's how it's spelt  lol!!)
Now you will normally only come accross Cantonese in Hong Kong, along with traditional Chinese characters.
I'm pretty sure that Taiwan uses the Fushing and Mandarin dialects  and again i think the Traditional Chinese characters.

David.....

Vince G:
When I use to write a woman in Guangdong I asked her what she spoke, being so close to Hong Kong where I know they speak Cantonese. She said she spoke Mandarin but could understand Cantonese. Repeating this question with those that followed Mandarin is what you should learn to be safe. Unless your woman speaks Cantonese but she might speak both?

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page