What Languages are Spoken in China?

Contents Key Takeaways China is home to around 300 living languages, far more than just "Chinese." "Chinese" is not a single language but a family of varieties, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Wu, and Min, many of which are mutually unintelligible. All varieties of Chinese belong to the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Standard Mandarin (普通话, Pǔtōnghuà) is China's official national language and the most widely spoken. China's 55 ethnic minorities speak languages from many other families, including Turkic, Mongolic, and Tai-Kadai. China is a vast country with a long, complicated history, and that complexity is reflected in the stunning linguistic diversity still found there today. In this guide, you will learn about the many hundreds of dialects and languages spoken in China. China's geography and history have produced one of the richest linguistic landscapes on earth. If you are learning Mandarin, or hoping to Learn Chinese in China, understanding this landscape makes real-life conversations and travel far more rewarding. It also explains why "Do you speak Chinese?" is a surprisingly complicated question. 语 01 How many languages are spoken in China? There are roughly 300 living languages in China, though the exact count varies depending on how you define "language" versus "dialect." Reference works such as Ethnologue place the figure at around 280–300. The number of speakers of many minority languages has fallen in recent years, and some are now considered endangered. Even so, China remains a land of impressive linguistic diversity. The languages of China can be divided into two broad categories. The first is Chinese itself and its variants; the second is the minority languages that belong to entirely different language families. 话 02 Chinese dialects vs. languages: what's the difference? Mandarin and the other varieties of Chinese The first category includes Mandarin Chinese, which belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family and is by far the most commonly spoken language in China. It also includes variants of Chinese such as Cantonese. These variants are often called "dialects," even though many are mutually unintelligible. Officially there are ten varieties of Chinese, although some sources list only eight because the smallest two are spoken by under 1% of the population. All of these varieties are written using Chinese characters and do not have their own separate written forms. Scholars usually classify them as separate languages rather than dialects. The main varieties of Chinese, mapped by location and approximate number of speakers. Minority languages in China The second category consists of minority languages that belong to completely different language families. The Bai language and many languages of Tibet sit in a different branch of the Sino-Tibetan family. Minority languages are generally spoken by members of China's ethnic minority groups. Many of them have their own written form that is not based on Chinese characters. Most members of China's ethnic minority groups speak their own minority language alongside one or more varieties of Chinese. Spoken Chinese vs. written Chinese People often raise the difference between traditional and simplified Chinese when discussing languages in China. That distinction only concerns how Chinese characters are written, not how the language is spoken. Because this guide focuses on spoken languages, we won't dwell on the simplified-versus-traditional debate here. The terms describe the written script, not regional speech. 史 03 Why does China have so many languages and dialects? The large number of languages in China is tied to its expansive geography, long history, and some unique features of written Chinese. Each factor pushed spoken varieties apart over time. Geography Geographic isolation is one of the main drivers of linguistic diversity. Just as species evolve in unique directions on isolated islands, languages diverge when speakers are cut off from one another for long periods. In the past, travel was slow, difficult, and dangerous, so contact between groups was infrequent. Today, those effects are far less pronounced thanks to the internet and modern transport. History China has a very long history, and over thousands of years the empire expanded and contracted many times. Each territorial expansion folded new groups of people into China's linguistic and cultural sphere. Political conflict frequently triggered wars, and the resulting disruption and famine forced waves of refugees from one region to another. They carried their languages with them, scattering varieties across the empire. Refugee groups often settled in isolated areas for safety. There, their speech evolved in different directions while retaining older features, slowly becoming the many languages found in China today. A whirlwind tour of more than two thousand years of Chinese history. The repeated rise and fall of dynasties helped scatter peoples — and their languages — across the empire. The Latin comparison It can help to compare China with ancient Europe, where Latin (拉丁文, Lādīngwén) was once the common language. After Rome fell, Europe's elite kept communicating in Latin while ordinary people spoke everyday language. Because Latin is phonetic, people could write down their regional speech using the Latin alphabet. Those written dialects eventually diverged into the modern Romance languages. China's situation was similar in one respect: Classical Chinese served as the written lingua franca of officials across the empire. Unlike Latin, however, it was not alphabetic. Speakers could read Classical Chinese aloud using their own local pronunciation. As a result, the spoken varieties of Chinese never developed separate written forms of their own. 汉 04 The 10 main varieties of Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese, and more) Officially there are ten varieties of Chinese, known in Chinese as 汉语方言 (Hànyǔ fāngyán), or "Chinese dialects." Within mainland China it is conventional to call them dialects, even though many differ more than separate European languages do. All ten varieties (including Standard Mandarin) are Sinitic languages, a branch of the Sino-Tibetan family. They are listed below in descending order by number of native speakers. The same basic phrases spoken in five Sinitic languages — Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Shanghainese, and Hakka — show just how different the varieties of Chinese can sound. 1. Standard Mandarin (Putonghua) Standard Mandarin, called Putonghua (普通话) in mainland China and Guoyu (国语) in Taiwan, is China's predominant language. It is also called 汉语 (Hànyǔ) because it is the language of the majority Han ethnic group. About 65.7% of the population are native Mandarin speakers, the largest share of any variety. When people study Chinese abroad, Standard Mandarin is almost always what they learn. Mandarin was originally based on the dialect of Beijing but is now spoken nationwide. It is China's main official language and the primary language of communication today. 2. Min Chinese Min Chinese (闽语, Mǐnyǔ) refers to a group of varieties spoken mainly in the coastal province of Fujian, accounting for around 6.2% of the population. Fujian's mountainous terrain produced many distinct varieties of Min. One well-known variety is Hokkien, a Southern Min language also spoken in Taiwan. Hokkien is common among overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia and beyond. Min Chinese is spoken in Fujian, Taiwan, and other parts of southern China. 3. Wu Chinese (Shanghainese) Wu Chinese (吴语, Wúyǔ) is a group of related varieties spoken in and around Shanghai by about 6.1% of the population. Although often called Shanghainese, it is thought to have originated in Suzhou. It is most common in Shanghai and in parts of the neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Like other varieties, it is largely unwritten. 4. Cantonese (Yue) After Mandarin, Cantonese (粤语, Yuèyǔ) is the variety most familiar outside China, despite being spoken by only about 5.6% of the population. Its links to Hong Kong cinema and the Chinese diaspora gave it outsized visibility abroad. Cantonese is spoken in Guangdong and Guangxi, as well as Hong Kong and Macau. It sounds very different from Mandarin, and the two are mutually unintelligible — a contrast we cover in our guide to the differences between Mandarin and Cantonese. Cantonese also preserves features of ancient spoken Chinese. Read Tang dynasty poetry in Cantonese and far more of the original rhyme scheme survives than in Mandarin. Cantonese is spoken in Guangdong and Guangxi as well as Hong Kong. Image credit: ASDFGHJ, CC BY-SA 3.0. 5. Jin Chinese Jin Chinese (晋语, Jìnyǔ) is spoken by about 5.2% of the population, mostly in north-central China. Most speakers live in Shanxi, with others in Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Henan, and Shaanxi. Because most residents of Shanxi speak it, Jin is sometimes called 山西话 (Shānxīhuà). Some linguists treat it as part of Mandarin rather than a separate variety. 6. Gan Chinese Gan Chinese (赣语, Gànyǔ) is spoken mainly in Jiangxi by about 3.9% of the population, with pockets in Hunan, Hubei, Fujian, and Anhui. It is sometimes called 江西话 (Jiāngxīhuà). Gan is considered closely related to Hakka. The two share several historical features. 7. Hakka (Kejia) Chinese After Mandarin and Cantonese, Hakka or Kejia (客家话, Kèjiāhuà) is perhaps the best-known variety abroad, largely because it is common in overseas Chinese communities. Within China it is spoken by about 3.5% of the population. Today Hakka speakers are scattered across Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Speakers also live in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Chinatowns worldwide. The Hakka were originally from northern China but fled south as refugees to escape war and unrest beginning around the end of the Western Jin dynasty (266–316 CE). Their name, 客家 (Kèjiā), means "guest families," reflecting their history as migrants. Like Cantonese, Hakka retains features of ancient spoken Chinese that Mandarin has lost. Their tendency to settle in isolated areas produced great diversity among the dialects grouped under Hakka. The modern distribution of Hakka was shaped by historical migrations of the Hakka people. Image credit: Sdcheung, CC BY-SA 4.0. 8. Xiang Chinese Xiang Chinese (湘语, Xiāngyǔ) is spoken mainly in Hunan by around 3% of the population, with speakers also in Guangxi, Guizhou, and Hubei. Because of its concentration in Hunan, it is often called Hunanese. 9. Huizhou Chinese Huizhou Chinese (徽州话, Huīzhōuhuà), also called Hui (徽语), is a small group of dialects spoken in scattered communities in Anhui, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi. With only about 0.3% of the population, it is often left off lists of Chinese varieties. 10. Pinghua and other unclassified dialects Pinghua (平话, Pínghuà) is spoken mainly in parts of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Like Huizhou, its small number of speakers means it is frequently omitted from lists of varieties. China also has unclassified varieties such as the Danzhou dialect (儋州话, Dānzhōuhuà). Together, Pinghua and the unclassified dialects make up about 0.6% of the population. 源 05 Is Chinese a Sino-Tibetan language? Yes. Chinese belongs to the Sino-Tibetan language family, which it shares with several hundred languages spoken by well over a billion people across East, South, and Southeast Asia. Within that family, Chinese sits in the Sinitic branch. Historical context The Sino-Tibetan family is one of the most ancient and expansive in the world. Chinese, a major member, has a documented history stretching back millennia. Oracle bone inscriptions show Chinese writing dating to the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE). Over the centuries, Chinese developed through successive dynasties, each adding to its complexity. Linguistic features: tones and grammar One of Chinese's most notable features is its use of tones to distinguish meaning. Mandarin has four primary tones plus a neutral tone, so one syllable can carry several different meanings. Chinese is also largely uninflected: words do not change form for tense, number, or case. Instead it relies heavily on word order and context, a structure explored further in our overview of Chinese grammar. Classification challenges Classifying Sino-Tibetan languages is difficult because of their diversity and historical spread. Chinese is well documented, but many related languages remain understudied. The relationships between branches are not always clear, and the link between Sinitic and Tibeto-Burman languages is debated. Reconstructing a proto-Sino-Tibetan language is hard given patchy historical records. The distribution of the Sino-Tibetan languages across Asia. Click to view the high-resolution image. Learn Chinese with Cultural Context CLI offers personalized Chinese instruction built around real language and culture. Join our Immersion Program in Guilin or start online with a free Chinese lesson. Explore the Immersion Program Learn Chinese Online 族 06 Other language families spoken in China Beyond the varieties of Chinese, many other languages are spoken in China, most unrelated to Sino-Tibetan. Their presence traces back to China's long history of contact and coexistence with other peoples. These languages are generally spoken by members of China's 55 ethnic minority groups, who together make up roughly 9% of the population. Below are the major families. 1. Tai-Kadai (Kra-Dai) Several minority groups in southern China speak Tai-Kadai languages, including the Li, Dai, Dong, and Bouyei. The Zhuang, many of whom live in Guilin and nearby Longsheng, also speak a language in this family. 2. Hmong-Mien Hmong-Mien speakers live in the mountainous areas of southern China and Southeast Asia. Chinese groups in this family include the Miao, the Yao, and the She. 3. Austroasiatic (Mon-Khmer) Austroasiatic speakers are found in southern China and across Southeast Asia, India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. Vietnamese and Khmer belong to this family, and in China it is spoken by the De'ang, Jing, Blang, and Wa. 4. Turkic The Turkic family spans a wide area from northwestern China across Central Asia to Eastern Europe. In China it is spoken by groups including the Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Uyghurs, Kyrgyz, Tatars, Salar, and Yugurs. Two unrecognized groups in Xinjiang, the Aynu and Ili Turk, also speak Turkic languages. Ili Turki is critically endangered, with only around 30 families left speaking it. 5. Mongolic The Mongolic family includes languages spoken in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Russia, and Afghanistan, with Mongolian the most common. In northern China it is spoken by the Mongols, Dongxiang, Monguor, Daur, Bonan, Yugurs, and Kuangjia Hui. Mongolic languages are spoken across parts of northern China. Image credit: CC BY-SA 2.5. 6. Tungusic Tungusic languages are spoken in North and East Asia, especially Siberia and Manchuria. Many are endangered, but some Manchu, Sibe, Hezhen, Evenki, and Oroqen people still speak them. 7. Koreanic Unlike the others, the Koreanic family includes only regional varieties of Korean, which is considered a language isolate. Korean is spoken in North and South Korea, Russia, and China. In China, the Korean ethnic group speaks "Chinese Korean," based on the standard form used in North Korea. It is concentrated in the northeast. 8. Indo-European The Indo-European family includes languages such as English, French, and Persian. In China it is represented by minority groups including the Tajiks and Russians, while Portuguese and English appear in Macau and Hong Kong respectively. 9. Austronesian The Austronesian family is widespread across Maritime Southeast Asia, Oceania, and Madagascar. In China it is spoken by the Utsul of Hainan and the Gaoshan peoples of Taiwan. 10. Sino-Tibetan (minority members) Mandarin and the other Chinese variants all belong to the Sinitic branch of Sino-Tibetan. The Bai language is considered a separate member of the same family. Sino-Tibetan also includes a Tibeto-Burman branch, whose best-known languages are Tibetan and Burmese. Within China, nearly 20 groups speak Tibeto-Burman languages, including the Naxi, Yi, Lisu, Derung, Nu, Achang, and Hani. 词 07 Useful Chinese language vocabulary The following terms come up often in discussions of languages and dialects in China. They are handy whether you are reading about linguistics or chatting with native speakers. ChinesePinyinMeaning 汉语HànyǔThe Chinese (Han) language 普通话PǔtōnghuàMandarin; Standard Chinese 方言fāngyánDialect 语言yǔyánLanguage 中文ZhōngwénChinese (language) 汉字HànzìChinese characters 拼音PīnyīnPinyin; romanization system 声调shēngdiàoTone 粤语YuèyǔCantonese 少数民族shǎoshù mínzúEthnic minority 母语mǔyǔMother tongue; native language 问 08 FAQ: languages in China How many languages are spoken in China? China has around 300 living languages, though the exact figure depends on how you distinguish a language from a dialect. Is Mandarin the same as Chinese? Not exactly. Mandarin is the most widely spoken variety of Chinese and the official national language, but "Chinese" also covers Cantonese, Wu, Min, Hakka, and several others. What's the difference between a Chinese dialect and a Chinese language? The terms are used loosely. Many "dialects" of Chinese are mutually unintelligible, so linguists usually classify them as separate languages within the Sinitic branch. Are Mandarin and Cantonese mutually intelligible? No. Mandarin and Cantonese sound very different and speakers generally cannot understand each other, even though both are written with Chinese characters. What language family does Chinese belong to? Chinese belongs to the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family, which also includes Tibetan and Burmese. 终 09 Final thoughts: a language lover's paradise China's linguistic diversity makes it a paradise for anyone passionate about language. Studying its varieties opens a window onto the country's history, geography, and cultural richness. Understanding how these languages relate also makes learning Mandarin more meaningful. Once you see where a variety fits, festivals, regional foods, and everyday conversations all make more sense. China is a land of remarkable linguistic diversity. Related Guides Mandarin vs. Cantonese Compare China's two best-known varieties of Chinese. What Is Putonghua? Learn about Standard Mandarin, China's official national language. Learn Chinese Characters Understand the writing system shared across all Chinese varieties. What Is Pinyin? Explore the romanization system used to learn Mandarin pronunciation. What Is the HSK? Discover the standard proficiency test for Mandarin Chinese. Why Learn Chinese? See why Mandarin is one of the most rewarding languages to study.