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> While people in Zhuhai and Foshan and Guangzhou learned a second language so they could talk to their neighbors in Dongguan and Shenzhen and Huizhou, many Hon
by ktln2 7y ago
> While people in Zhuhai and Foshan and Guangzhou learned a second language so they could talk to their neighbors in Dongguan and Shenzhen and Huizhou, many Hongkongers did not.
I agree with most of your observations, but this part I am afraid is not true. Most of Hongkongers (especially younger generation, no matter what kind of political views they have) has operational proficiency in Mandarin, given that 1. it is taught in school after 1997 and 2. most jobs involves talking to Mainlander/Taiwanese at some point.
- alisonatwork 7y agoThis is really interesting to me! I work with a few Hongkongers here on the mainland, but i assumed they were a self-selected group of people who could speak Mandarin. When i go to Hong Kong i have a really hard time communicating with anybody because they do not like to speak either English or Mandarin. Admittedly, i tend to visit the smaller suburbs in North District so i may not be meeting the most cosmopolitan or mainland-friendly Hongkongers.