Today, all educated people in Fujian speak Mandarin. It has been the language of education throughout China since the 1950s and is now the lingua franca in Fujian as everywhere else.
However, Fujian also has dozens of its own dialects. The terrain is mountainous; at one time nearly every valley had its own language. These dialects are usually described with the prefix "Min" (闽 Mǐn), where Min is another name for Fujian. These dialects are not mutually intelligible, though they do share certain common features. Generally speaking, the "Min" group of Chinese dialects is the most different from standard Mandarin of all the dialects in China. Minnan has fewer similarities with Mandarin than English has with Dutch.
Among the most important is Minnan Hua (闽南话 Mǐnnán huà; Southern Min), spoken in Xiamen, Quanzhou, Zhangzhou and surrounding areas. There are slight dialectal variations of Minnan between the three cities; the Xiamen dialect is considered to be the prestige dialect. Many people in Taiwan speak the same language, though they may call it Taiwanese. In Malaysia and Singapore, the same language is called Hokkien (the Minnan word for Fujian). The language of Hainan is closely related to Minnan, but not mutually intelligible with it.
The Mindong (闽东 Mǐn dōng; Eastern Min) or Fuzhou Hua (福州话 Fúzhōu huà; Fuzhou speech) dialect is spoken in Fuzhou and also has a large number of speakers in the northern coastal areas. In Malaysia and Singapore, it is known as Hokchiu (the Mindong word for Fuzhou). There are dialectal variations; the Mindong dialects in Fuzhou and Fu'an, which are only about 4 hours apart by car, are not mutually intelligible, though the Fuzhou dialect is considered to be the prestige dialect of Mindong.
Other Min dialects include Minbei (闽北 Mǐn běi; Northern Min), Minzhong (闽中 Mǐn zhōng; Central Min) and Puxian, named for Putian city and the surrounding Xianyou county.
The Hakka (客家 Kèjiā) people in the West of Fujian, and in several other areas of Southern China, came as refugees from one of Northern China's wars some centuries back. Hakka means "guest people". They have their own Hakka language (客家话; Kèjiāhuà), related to Northern dialects rather than to any other Fujian language.
As with the rest of China, English is not widely spoken, though airline and high-end hotel staff in the larger cities will usually have a basic grasp of English.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Fujian
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Fujian - updated May 2024
SAVE up to 75% on Last Minute deals! Search for discount Fujian hotels, motels, apartments, hostels, guest accommodations and vacation resorts. Book now and pay at the hotel. Instant email confirmation!
Fujian Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
