China is made up of 56 ethnic groups among its 1.2 billion people. The majority of the ethnic people are known as the Han Chinese, which makes up 93 percent of the population. Han Chinese speaks seven dialects, but Mandarin or Pudonghua, meaning “common speak”, is the official and most-commonly used language. Cantonese, which is spoken in Hong Kong and southern province, is the second most popular language. Most of the 55 other ethnic groups speak their own dialects.



China has five Autonomous Regions for its minorities: Guangxi, Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia. The minorities account for a small 7 percent of the entire population and there are efforts to preserve their unique characteristics for future generations. They live along the country’s borders and some across the border. The government’s one-child policy has been lifted for ethnic minority couple from the same group. They can have a second child if both parents are only children and from the same ethnic minority group.

China has been a multi-culture and multi-disciplined society for a few thousands years. All minorities in china now have the equal right to the Han majority. Usually, the minorities reside in the more remote and poorer regions, but the Chinese government has a preferential policy to provide training for the minority to progress, govern and manage independently.