Most European and Americans can never tell the differences among various ethnic groups in china. (Just like they can not tell the differences among Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Taiwanese, Mongolians and other East Asians) Actually, 56 ethnic groups are living in China’s Mainland, 55 of them are minorities according to classifications made by china’s government. The Chinese majority, Han Chinese, constitutes about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China. (That’s what we called “China”, excluding Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau) Some social scientists may argue that there should be 100 plus ethnic groups in china because the classifications of ethnic groups and the relationships among them in china are much more complicated and complex than in Russia where there are approximate 110 ethnic groups. I don’t wanna be stuck in that issue; I just wanna talk about languages and dialects in china.

The first question is: what is “Chinese”? According to china’s national laws and standards, “Official Chinese” is defined as “the language based on Peking dialect of Mandarin”. Chinese is a bunch of languages instead of just one language, many professionals prefer to say it as “Sinitic Language family” rather than “Chinese”. There are 8 major language varieties spoken by Chinese majority: Mandarin (Official Chinese is based on Pekingese which belongs to Mandarin); Cantonese (mainly spoken by people in Canton and Hong Kong); Goetian(Chinese name: Wu) ( English pronunciation: GO-E-Shun; generally speaking, it was known as “Shanghainese” while West People know people living in Shanghai are always proud of it. But it’s not only Shanghainese’ language, but also the first language spoken by other 80 million plus people in other china’s provinces around Shanghai City.); Hakka (which is thought to be the most orthodox and ancient Chinese by a part of Chinese people); Gan (English pronunciation: Kan; some experts think it should be a dialect of Goetian); Xiang ( English pronunciation: sheeON); North Min (you can find this language in restaurants in china towns of metropolises.); South Min ( Spoken by Taiwanese and other Min people.)

The reason why I say they are 8 major Chinese varieties instead of 8 major Chinese dialects is whether they are different languages or dialects has not been decided yet. Its doubtless you will be told they are dialects if you are educated in china’s mainland. However, different opinions exit in international linguistics. For instance, the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin is pretty much bigger than the one between Italian and French, pretty much bigger than the one between French and Spain, preeety much bigger than the one between Italian and Spain. So does the difference between Goetian and Mandarin, So does Goetian and Cantonese, So does……

Now we’ve gotten an obviously serious problem here: if French, Italian and Spain are different language, those 8 major Chinese “dialects” shall be defined as “8 major languages spoken by Chinese majority-Han People”. As we know, Modern-day linguists know that the status of language is not solely determined by linguistic criteria, but it is also the result of a historical and political development. Chinese Emperors and Politic Leaders, from ancient times until now, think that the independence of “dialects” may cause the independence of ethnic groups inside Han people, the independence of ethnic groups may cause the independence of regions where people speak non-Mandarin Chinese. So they regulated, not classify based on academic works, those Chinese variations were dialects.

In conclusion, what I wanna express is you have to consider about distinct cultural backgrounds of Han people from different regions, you have to know and understand Mandarin, Cantonese, Goetian, Hakka, Gan, Xiang, North Min, South Min people separately while reading Chinese politic events, negotiating with Chinese government, communicating with common Chinese people. Absolutely, speaking different languages will generate different thoughts in their brains.

More specific, Mandarin people are more loyal to the Central Government, they believe crazy in that the re- unification makes the country be much stronger. They are easily led by government-owned media. Cantonese is a marine ethnic group which is very different from Mandarin. They prefer internationally free trading and communications with trade partners. Hong Kong was used to be British Colony, so people in Hong Kong and Cantonese areas can speake better English. Goetian is an academic ethnic group, 60% plus Academicians of China National Academy are Goetian native speakers, especially Shanghainese native speakers and 75% of champions of Imperial Exams in ancient times were Goetian native speakers. One thin I have to emphasize, they may feel the best about Japanese because historically, Japan communicated and traded with South Dynasties, Wu Kingdom and Wuyue Kingdom which were all established by Goetian people. 37% Japanese pronunciations came from Goetian. Hakka people pay more attention to ancient Chinese traditions and customs. They don’t like Cantonese people very much. Although Hakka’s influence is pretty little in mainland but they have many famous business men worldwide. North Min people like to immigrant to west world, especially North America. Restaurant industry is their traditional focus. You will see most waiters and waitress are native North Min speakers in china towns. South Min people like to do business with Taiwanese because they are the same ethnic group. I think they are the people who dislike fighting against Taiwan mostly. Xiang and Gan ethnic groups are dying; they are assimilated into Mandarin-speaking people.