Understand

Chinese dialects, such as Sichuanese and Mandarin, have some mutual intelligibility. Similarly, Japanese dialects are mutually intelligible, while others like Cantonese and Mandarin are not. This is comparable to certain German dialects that are not intelligible with standard German. All Chinese dialects share the same set of characters for reading and writing. While a Cantonese speaker and a Mandarin speaker may not be able to understand each other when speaking, they can generally read what the other writes. Even speakers of Japanese or Korean can recognize many Chinese characters. However, there are significant differences when dialects are written in colloquial form. For instance, Cantonese as used in Hong Kong employs more informal phrasings in everyday speech compared to what is written. This results in the use of extra characters to represent the spoken dialect and other colloquial words. There is an additional complication with the use of simplified characters in mainland China and Singapore. This change, implemented by the mainland Chinese government in 1956, aimed to standardize language across China's diverse minority groups and sub-dialects of Mandarin and other Chinese languages. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, and some overseas Chinese still use traditional characters. Additionally, the Dungan language, a variant of Mandarin spoken in some neighboring countries, uses the Cyrillic alphabet instead of Chinese characters. Chinese is spoken by approximately one fifth of the world's population and is a tonal language related to Burmese and Tibetan. Although Japanese and Korean use Chinese characters, their spoken languages are not related to Chinese. Vietnamese, which borrows many words from Chinese, also used Chinese characters in the past. For travelers heading to Guangdong, Guangxi, Hong Kong, or Macau, Cantonese will be more useful than Mandarin. Those going to Taiwan or southern Fujian may find Minnan useful as well. Learning Chinese, like many other Asian languages such as Arabic, is known for its difficulty. English speakers may initially struggle with tones and recognizing numerous characters since Chinese does not have an alphabet. However, Chinese grammar is relatively simple without conjugation, tenses, gender, plurals, or other grammatical rules found in major languages like English or French.

Map & Climate

Popular Foods

Dim Sum - A collection of small bite-sized portions of various Chinese dishes, which can include dumplings, spring rolls, barbecued pork buns, and egg tarts. These are often served as a brunch or pre-lunch meal, accompanied by tea.

Peking Duck - A whole roasted duck that is a specialty of Beijing, known for its thin, crisp skin, rich, tender meat, and flavorful fat. The duck is typically served with thin pancakes, scallions, and a sweet bean sauce.

Kung Pao Chicken - A stir-fried dish made with chicken, peanuts, vegetables (usually bell peppers and onions), and chili peppers, all coated in a spicy, savory sauce. It's a staple in Sichuanese and broader Chinese cuisine.

Historical Appearance

Traditional Male Clothing

Traditional Female Clothing