The Language

As with just about every region in China excluding Beijing, this region also has its own local dialect. It sounds nothing like Mandarin Chinese and so we couldn't understand when they spoke in their local language. The interesting part about this is that it can't be written, it is just passed on from generation to generation. This is the case all over China, I couldn't even guess how many different dialects there are. So I asked Wikipedia how many there were and found that there are 220 dialects in China, not including Mandarin Chinese (you can see the list here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Chinese_dialects). Kids first learn their local dialect at home and then are taught Mandarin when they go to school. Mandarin is the standard and is definitely used here in Shanghai, but not so much in these small villages -- particularly not with the older generations. So their Mandarin is not very good. Jane's father spoke quite well, but her mother's Mandarin was even more limited than mine. Jane stepped in when needed and translated between us. But we still had many a good conversations!

One of the many chats outside of Jane's parents' home