Communist authorities are discussing and demanding that the local television of Guangzhou should drop Cantonese and use purely Mandarin.

Mandarin known as Putonghua is the common language throughout northern China which originated in Beijing. Southern cities are now urged to use it as a medium for education, national official media and for the government.

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Cantonese on the other hand originated from the "Yue" people who started living in Guangdong. Other regions who use Cantonese are Hongkong, Foshan, Shenzhen, Zhongshan,and Macau.

The Communist Party in China has viewed the division of the country due to language as a factor in weakening loyalties in regions. Xinjian and Tibet are some of their examples as areas opposing Beijing's rules.

According to the ministry of educationo, 30 percent of the 400 million people in China do not understand and cannot speak fluent Mandarin.Cantonese has been the first language of almost half of the population in Guangzhou. This is the third largest city in China and the provincial capital of Guangdong. A high number of elderly residents are said to be living in the area and are accustomed to speaking Cantonese.

Sources have revealed however that Guangdong TV Centre will be switching most of its programs from Cantonese to Mandarin on the first of September.

There have been reactions from the public regarding the said change. A certain Huang Yankun, 17, is a student saying that it's wrong to try to restrict the language in such a way and that changing everything to Mandarin is highly opposed.

A media worker named Huang Xiaoyu said that lots of kids speak Mandrain at school. Their parents talk to them in Cantonese but the kids respond using Mandarin. Cantonese is also feared of being ceased to exist in the long run. Xiaoyu added that very few kids speak Cantonese these days which worries her since elderlies won't be able to communicate to them.

A Cantonese activist named Lao Zhenyu said that Cantonese is not just a language, but for native speakers it is part of their identity. 

TagsGunagzhou, Mandarin, cantonese, Switch, Language, TV, education, government