Editing Zhejiang (section)

===Languages===
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Zhejiang is mountainous and has therefore fostered the development of many distinct local cultures. Linguistically speaking, Zhejiang is extremely diverse. Most inhabitants of Zhejiang speak varieties of [[Wu Chinese|Wu]], but those Wu dialects are very diverse, especially in the south, where one valley may speak a dialect completely unintelligible to the next valley a few kilometers away. Other [[varieties of Chinese]] are spoken as well, mostly along the borders; [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] and [[Huizhou Chinese|Huizhou]] dialects are spoken on the border with Anhui, while [[Min Chinese|Min]] dialects are spoken on the border with Fujian. (See [[Hangzhou dialect]], [[Shaoxing dialect]], [[Ningbo dialect]], [[Wenzhou dialect]], [[Taizhou dialect]], [[Jinhua dialect]] and [[Quzhou dialect]] for more information)

Throughout history there have been a series of ''[[lingua franca]]s'' in the area to allow for better communication. The dialects spoken in Hangzhou, Shaoxing and Ningbo have taken on this role historically. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]], which is not mutually intelligible with any of the Wu dialects, has been promoted as the standard language of communication throughout China. As a result, most of the population now can, to some degree, speak and comprehend Mandarin and can [[Code-switching|code-switch]] when necessary. A majority of the population educated since 1978 can speak some Mandarin. Urban residents tend to be more fluent in Mandarin than rural people. Nevertheless, a Zhejiang accent is detectable in almost everyone from the area communicating in Mandarin and the home dialect remains an important part of the everyday lives and cultural identities of most Zhejiang residents.