3 ms·

Similar is happening to many chinese cities. 20 years ago cantonese were wildly spoken in shenzhen. Now, with so many mandarin speakers rushing into the rapidly

by a_c 9y ago

Similar is happening to many chinese cities. 20 years ago cantonese were wildly spoken in shenzhen. Now, with so many mandarin speakers rushing into the rapidly developing city, cantonese seems a minority. I doubt if shanghai, or maybe sichuan is the same.

stone-monkey 9y ago
Shenzhen losing Cantonese somewhat makes sense due to the sheer number of migrants moving in from different regions of China. They likely outnumber the population several-fold now. It was only declared a special economic zone back in the 80's - Before that, it was a relatively small town. Now it has a population of about 20 million. Compare that with Guangzhou, which also has a ton of migrant inflow from other provinces but with a large local populace - if you walk down any given street you'll still hear Cantonese spoken pretty often, though Mandarin is more frequently used (since it's the common tongue.)
- eggy 9y ago
  I still have bias in my heart for Cantonese having heard it growing up in Brooklyn, and visiting NYC Chinatown. That and all of the kung fu movies I used to go see at the Coliseum theater back in Sunset Park Brooklyn and Times Square when I was a kid in the 70s. I learned some Cantonese living over in Macau for over 7 years. Not as much as I would have liked compared to my other languages when living for less time in other places. I wound up learning Indonesian more than Cantonese. I love the HK 80s movies - cop dramas, ro-coms, etc... I like to make the completely silly comparisoin that Cantonese is like Brooklyn english compared to Mandarin which is like British english. It's got so much flavor. I love HK and Macau for that, and I wish I has spent more time in Guangzhou where some of my buddies were from and Cantonese is spoken.
5p1r3 9y ago
The same is happening in Shanghai and has been happening for a while. The old dialect of Shanghainese is quickly disappearing and only recently did the government think to preserve it.

by a_c 9y ago

stone-monkey 9y ago

Shenzhen losing Cantonese somewhat makes sense due to the sheer number of migrants moving in from different regions of China. They likely outnumber the population several-fold now. It was only declared a special economic zone back in the 80's - Before that, it was a relatively small town. Now it has a population of about 20 million. Compare that with Guangzhou, which also has a ton of migrant inflow from other provinces but with a large local populace - if you walk down any given street you'll still hear Cantonese spoken pretty often, though Mandarin is more frequently used (since it's the common tongue.)

eggy 9y ago
I still have bias in my heart for Cantonese having heard it growing up in Brooklyn, and visiting NYC Chinatown. That and all of the kung fu movies I used to go see at the Coliseum theater back in Sunset Park Brooklyn and Times Square when I was a kid in the 70s. I learned some Cantonese living over in Macau for over 7 years. Not as much as I would have liked compared to my other languages when living for less time in other places. I wound up learning Indonesian more than Cantonese. I love the HK 80s movies - cop dramas, ro-coms, etc... I like to make the completely silly comparisoin that Cantonese is like Brooklyn english compared to Mandarin which is like British english. It's got so much flavor. I love HK and Macau for that, and I wish I has spent more time in Guangzhou where some of my buddies were from and Cantonese is spoken.

5p1r3 9y ago

The same is happening in Shanghai and has been happening for a while. The old dialect of Shanghainese is quickly disappearing and only recently did the government think to preserve it.