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Chinese
People---
1, 2, 3, 4,
5, 6, 7
Most
of the ethnic people are more forthright and simpler than Hans of the
east coast. Shanghainese are most famous for their shrewd calculations
of every penny but no matter what their characters, if you treat them
fair, they will treat you fair.
China has one official language, Chinese.
Written Chinese is the same all over the country but when spoken, it is
a different story. Putonghua, or Mandarin, is the universal language
understood by all educated Chinese. But there are thousands of different
dialects in China. The differences in these dialects sometimes are
more than two different languages. For "How Are You?", a Beijinger
will say, "Ni Hao", while a Guangzhouer will say "Lei Ho". If you are
especially linguistically endowed, you can always pick up a few words
in dialects but do remember, never try your Shanghai dialect in front
of a Beijinger in Beijing.
China once was conquered by the Mongols but
in time Mongols became Chinese; therefore, the Yuan Dynasty. China
was once conquered by Manchus but in time Manchus became Chinese; therefore,
the Qing Dynasty. The Jewish are famous for their resilience to
other cultures' influence and for having strong bonds among themselves
but you go to Kaifeng today, where once a large Jewish community existed,
you will only find some Jewish physical features still remain on local
people's faces. The British were the first to open the China market
by gun boats in the Opium War (1840) but they didn't make a fortune selling
knives and forks. Instead, more and more Westerners can handle chopsticks.
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