潮汕地区简介英文版

Chaoshan

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Cháoshàn(潮汕) refers to the linguistic and cultural region in the east of Guangdong, a southeastern province of China. This region is the origin of the Min Nan dialect Teochew. The area is known as Teochew (spelt Chiuchow in Hong Kong) for most[who?] people overseas, although it also consists of the cities of Shantou (sometimes spelt Swatow) and Jieyang. It differs from the rest of Guangdong province which consists of Cantonese and Hakka speakers.[1]

Contents

[hide]

• 1 Origin

• 2 Geography

• 3 Culture and language

• 4 Climate

• 5 Economy

• 6 Maps

•7 Related links

•8 References

[edit] Origin

The name "Chaoshan" (潮汕) is a contraction of the names of two of its administrative areas, the prefecture-level cities of Chaozhou(潮州), and Shantou (汕头).

[edit] Geography

Encompassing the cities of Chaozhou, Shantou, Jieyang and Shanwei, the Chaoshan region, with a permanent population of 13,247,400 at the end of 2007, covers an area of 10,028 km² that stretches from Shanwei on the coast to the border of Fujian.

[edit] Culture and language

This is a unique area with its own culture that is quite different from its neighbours in Guangdong and the rest of China. It does, however, share similarities to the Minnan areas just north of Chaoshan in Fujian Province. One of the main reasons for its uniqueness is its language, called Chaozhou (also spelt Teochew). It is said that this dialect of Chinese is one of the most difficult ones to master, as it has 8 tones compared to the 4 tones found in Mandarin. Music, opera, and food are further characteristics that distinguish Chaoshan people from the rest of Guangdong.

Chaozhou Dialect (潮州話), by which the Chaozhou culture conveys, is considered as one of the oldest Chinese dialects for it preserves many elegant and refined features from ancient Chinese that have been lost in some of the other modern dialects of Chinese. It is spoken by about 10 million people in local Chaozhou and approximately 2-5 million overseas.

Chaozhou Opera

Chaozhou opera (潮劇) is a traditional art form which has a history of more than 500 years and is now loved by 20 million Chaozhou natives in over 20 countries and regions. Based on the local folk dances and ballads, Chaozhou opera has formed its own style under the influence of Nanxi opera. Nanxi is one of the oldest Chinese operas that originated in the Song Dynasty. Its tunes are graceful and pleasant, full of local color. The old form of choral accompaniment still remains its special features. Clowns and females are the most distinctive characters in a Chaozhou opera,