Eastern Min

Eastern Min, or Min Dong (simplified Chinese: 闽东语; traditional Chinese: 閩東語; pinyin: Mǐndōngyǔ; Foochow Romanized: Mìng-dĕ̤ng-ngṳ̄), is a branch of the Min group of varieties of Chinese. The prestige form and most-cited representative variety is the Fuzhou dialect, the speech of the capital and largest city of Fujian province.

Geographic distribution

China

Eastern Min varieties are mainly spoken in the eastern part of Fujian Province in People's Republic of China, in and near the cities of Fuzhou and Ningde. They are also widely encountered as the mother tongue on the Matsu Islands, Republic of China. Additionally, the inhabitants of Taishun and Cangnan to the north of Fujian in Zhejiang also speak Eastern Min varieties. Eastern Min generally coexists with the official standard Mandarin in all these areas.

America

As the coastal area of Fujian has been the historical homeland of a large worldwide diaspora of overseas Chinese, varieties of Eastern Min can also be found across the world, especially in their respective Chinatowns. Cities with high concentrations of such immigrants include New York City, especially Little Fuzhou, Manhattan; Sunset Park, Brooklyn; and Flushing, Queens.