China Fever

In many respects, however, computerization of Chinese will facilitate commercial functions, and the race is already on, among start-up firms and corporate giants alike, to produce the software of choice for the Chinese language market.

The english term "Mandarin" refers to the northeastern Chinese dialect that China's rulers have long promoted as a unifying language. Within China this dialect is referred to as "standard speech" (putonghua); outside China, it may be called "country language" (guoyu) or simply "Chinese" (huayu). Most Taiwanese speak fluent Mandarin, as do most educated mainlanders. Large numbers of Hong Kongers, who traditionally speak Cantonese dialect, are brushing up their Mandarin for post-1997 PRC rule. Similarly, business and cultural ties with China and Taiwan are reinvigorating Mandarin usage among the twenty to twenty-five million ethnic Chinese throughout Southeast Asia.

Mandarin has always been the language of high culture among the Chinese within China and abroad. It is now becoming the language of pop culture as well. Taiwanese and Hong Kong movies, television shows, and music formerly produced in dialects, like Cantonese or Hokkien, are increasingly made for distribution to the wider Mandarin market. The international success of Chinese artists such as filmmakers Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine) and Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern; To Live) adds to the allure of Mandarin among the young.

Until recently the designation of Mandarin as the world's most spoken language was mainly due to the size of the population of China itself (1.2 billion and climbing). But now Mandarin may be poised to spread beyond the Chinese world as a language of commerce and influence among the elite and professional classes of Asia. The economic impetus is clear: Trade within the region is expanding twice as fast as Asia's trade with other regions. And if reformist policies are sustained, the growing China market stands near the center of those trade flows. China could also become Asia's largest source of tourist revenue. In 1995 PRC citizens represented the third largest group of Asian tourists, a relatively new and growing phenomenon.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• China
• Chinese
• 华人
• 中国
• 大陆
• 香港
• 澳门
• 台湾
• Mandarin