Can Shenzhen people speak Cantonese?

While Shenzhen is located in the Southern Chinese province of Guangdong, where the local dialect is Cantonese, Mandarin is the official spoken language. While traveling in Shenzhen, you are likely to hear regional dialects from all parts of China.

When did China stop speaking Cantonese?

It maintained this status until the mid-2000s, when a heavy increase in immigration from Mandarin-speakers largely from Mainland China led to Mandarin surpassing Cantonese as the dominant Chinese dialect spoken.

Is Cantonese dying in China?

According to these experts, Cantonese isn’t dying at all. For now. “From a linguistic point of view, it’s not endangered at all. It’s doing quite well compared to other languages in the China region,” said Mr Lau.

Is Cantonese declining?

Since the promotion of Mandarin from the 1990s, the number of Cantonese speakers has been dropped to less than 30\% according to an unofficial statistic years later, most of who are the elder generations. Besides the decline of Cantonese in Guangzhou, there is also fear of Cantonese declining in Hong Kong.

Is Shenzhen Mandarin or Cantonese?

Mandarin is the mother dialect of the Chinese language and is spoken in most provinces of China, including Shenzhen. Cantonese, however, is the dialect of the Guangdong Province and because the people of Shenzhen grow up speaking Cantonese, it’s widely spoken.

Does Guangdong speak Cantonese?

Cantonese is the first language of roughly half the population of Guangzhou, China’s third-largest city and the provincial capital of Guangdong — where for many elderly residents, it is their only tongue.

Is Shenzhen a Cantonese city?

Even though Shenzhen is in Guangdong (Canton province), most people don’t speak Cantonese as they do in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. This is because Shenzhen is a city of immigrants from every other part of China who have come during the last 35 years because of the opportunities in this fast-growing special economic zone.

What are the dialects spoken in Shenzhen?

Are the dialect in Shenzhen (before Shenzhen was officially categorised as a municiple, it was composed of different regions with Cantonese, Hakka, And Chaozhou people). Again, you can find people who speak different dialects in Shenzhen, and the safest language to speak is Mandarin to avoid confusion.

What is the lingua franca of China in Shenzhen?

Since 1978, Shenzhen has one of China’s largest “internal expat” population. And the lingua franca of China officially and pragmatically is Mandarin. Guangzhou is the cradle of Cantonese culture and socioeconomic epicentre of Guangdong Province.

What is it like to live in Shenzhen?

Most of people who live in Shenzhen are not local people. They come from different provinces and even different countries. Mandarin and Cantonese are the most popular languages. In addition, people from other parts of China speak their own language.