Languages of China

Hu Xin and He Yan Xin as seen in the film "Hidden Letters"

These women are trying to preserve an ancient Chinese language invented as a secret code

June 13, 2022Language

Hundreds of years ago, women in China weren’t allowed an education and spent their days locked in rooms, embroidering and making crafts. They came up with a new language that men couldn’t understand — Nüshu — and wrote it onto handmade fans to communicate with each other. A filmmaker is now trying to raise awareness to preserve it before it is lost.

Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner walks on the carpet before a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing February 5, 2015.

Argentine president in China to negotiate deals on ‘lice and petloleum’

February 5, 2015Culture

A job seeker looks at recruitment advertisements at a labor market in Guangdong province, where most people speak Cantonese.

Beijing has a message for China’s Cantonese speakers — stick to Mandarin!

August 27, 2014Culture

Cantopop singer Corinna Chamberlain, aka Chan Ming Yan.

This blond and blue-eyed singer wows Hong Kongers with her flawless Cantopop

January 30, 2014Arts, Culture & Media

Geo answer

August 14, 2013Global Politics

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Cantonese: a Dialect in Peril?

August 14, 2013Arts, Culture & Media

In official China, Mandarin is favored over all other dialects. That has had a knock-on effect here in the US, where Cantonese used to be the dominant Chinese language. Reporter Nina Porzucki reports from New York on how Cantonese is faring.

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