Each time I hear Cantonese spoken, I feel connected and instantly like I am home. It is sad to me then that in the last 10 or so years, more and more Mandarins have arrived into Canton to make a living, taking over the city with cheap labour. Remember, never hire a green cab in Canton. They are operated by ‘lao shone’, or anyone up north who are not Cantonese. But green cabs are 9 out of 10. If you were lucky to get into a red or yellow cab, the driver will be native, is guaranteed not to cheat you, and knows every street and traffic pattern. The green cabbies rarely know the way, even pretending not to know the most famous shopping street in the City. When I am there speaking Cantonese, I, too, adopt the xenophobia of the locals.
Today I was lucky to get into a red cab both times. If you spoke Cantonese, they will instantly treat you like a niece, telling you what to do, when, and how much things cost. Quickly, our conversations descended into complaint mode. Everything from the immutable, permanent nature of corruption and unethical behaviors of the Northern Mandarin Communists, to how they always screw the Cantonese. The number one contributors of income tax, but having the third lowest wages, and the least government spending in the country, Canton or Guangzhou, manages well on its own. Being the top city of the deep south of China, its wily citizens have always been called the ‘barbarians of the south’. Never mind that Cantonese cuisine is considered the foremost in sophistication in the country, never mind that the Cantonese are worldly, sea faring, cultured, and has a nuanced language with 9 tones, 5 more than Mandarin, and the most expressive vocabulary, especially when describing food. Not ever being militant, the Cantonese never could stand up to the North, and so, are given second class treatment to this day. Today, it is also the only profitable city of the top three in the country, over Shanghai and Beijing. It also has, I am proud to say, the highest ethics meter, the only city with inspection for all its food items, and so far, never been in the news for tainted or contaminated food products.
So I don’t mind that I am not Mandarin. Us Cantonese also has the dim sum culture, a meal that can last 4 hours in the morning, and of course, a complete palate range of tea from the freshest greens to the oldest Pu-Erhs. The first to have an entire sub-city dedicated to the commerce of tea, many enterprising farmers and producers are able to set up exchange places or shops there to showcase their tea grown in remote regions few can ever get to. Everyone from Hong Kongnese to the local Cantonese drink tea in unascertainable amounts, so where else would you set up such a tea city, but in Canton?
For that fact alone, I am glad to be Cantonese.
Today I was lucky to get into a red cab both times. If you spoke Cantonese, they will instantly treat you like a niece, telling you what to do, when, and how much things cost. Quickly, our conversations descended into complaint mode. Everything from the immutable, permanent nature of corruption and unethical behaviors of the Northern Mandarin Communists, to how they always screw the Cantonese. The number one contributors of income tax, but having the third lowest wages, and the least government spending in the country, Canton or Guangzhou, manages well on its own. Being the top city of the deep south of China, its wily citizens have always been called the ‘barbarians of the south’. Never mind that Cantonese cuisine is considered the foremost in sophistication in the country, never mind that the Cantonese are worldly, sea faring, cultured, and has a nuanced language with 9 tones, 5 more than Mandarin, and the most expressive vocabulary, especially when describing food. Not ever being militant, the Cantonese never could stand up to the North, and so, are given second class treatment to this day. Today, it is also the only profitable city of the top three in the country, over Shanghai and Beijing. It also has, I am proud to say, the highest ethics meter, the only city with inspection for all its food items, and so far, never been in the news for tainted or contaminated food products.
So I don’t mind that I am not Mandarin. Us Cantonese also has the dim sum culture, a meal that can last 4 hours in the morning, and of course, a complete palate range of tea from the freshest greens to the oldest Pu-Erhs. The first to have an entire sub-city dedicated to the commerce of tea, many enterprising farmers and producers are able to set up exchange places or shops there to showcase their tea grown in remote regions few can ever get to. Everyone from Hong Kongnese to the local Cantonese drink tea in unascertainable amounts, so where else would you set up such a tea city, but in Canton?
For that fact alone, I am glad to be Cantonese.
Taken from http://teapersonality.blogspot.com/
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