Guangdong is a weird county where hipsters live and the two dialects are very different. When they met before, they "talk to chickens and ducks".

Guangdong has many ethnic minorities and is a well-known minority province. In particular, number of Hakkas is much higher than in other provinces and municipalities. There is a small town in eastern part of Guangdong province. Although not well known, it has a long history, especially mixture of Chaoshan and Hakka dialects, which makes people feel unique.

Perhaps you are also interested, let's take a look with me!

One. Young city

Jiexi County is located in Jieyang City, Guangdong Province. It is a city that is part of Chaoshan District. It is not very attractive in Guangdong Province. The total area is over 1,000 square kilometers and population is typically around 600,000. Compared to northern cities, this place is less severe and heroic, but there are no less fireworks.

In recent years, there has been tremendous development, and name of tourist city has become famous. Finally, in recent years, he managed to escape from poverty. Why is this young city with several years of history to be able to develop and grow in just a few years, the biggest reason is its culture and folk customs.

In ancient times, Jiexi County was a border town on seashore during Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, and then became an independent state. Later, after continuous evolution and change, it became Jieyang County, which belongs to Guangdong Province. During Sui and Tang dynasties, it was renamed Haiyan County, and later developed and expanded.

At end of Qing Dynasty and beginning of Republic of China, it was officially reorganized and rebuilt, and Jieyang became government office. However, this small town has always remained in a state of disrepair. Despite becoming a county in the 1960s and having a county government, it was still overlooked.

Two. Unique accent

The emphasis here has become popular. Some people follow Chaoshan to speak Chaoshan, and some ethnic minorities speak Hakka.There are two different languages ​​in region, which is still a unique situation. Tourists who come here find it hard not to be attracted.

The uniqueness of Chaoshan dialect is that it has its own school, its own initials, endings and tones. When you first hear it, you don't think it's too different. Or slow speech speed, flickering sound - essence of Chaoshan dialect.

Hakka is a language with history. Years ago, historians studied pronunciation of ancient Chinese words, mostly based on Hakka. Its grammatical order is very different from Chinese. Almost in a sentence, subject, verb, and object are reversed, so it's hard for you to find common ground in Hakka languages.

In Jiexi County, Hakka is spoken in ten cities, while Chaoshan is mainly spoken in seven nearby cities. The population is almost 1:1. If you want to know what language is spoken by Hakka or Teochew, you can determine this by geographic boundaries.

Hakka is spoken in northern regions of mountains and hills, while Teochew is commonly spoken in small towns near sea and rivers. Even if you don't see difference, you can still speak Mandarin Chinese. Due to prolonged shock and change of two languages, nature of assimilation is serious. Combined with popularity and growth of mandarin.

Therefore, young people prefer to use Mandarin as a common language. Although two vernacular languages ​​are mixed and have characteristics of "water and fire are incompatible", it is also one of cultural customs of Jiexi County.

Three. Other culture

Although development of Jieyang is not complete and fast, culture is indeed very deep. Walking through this small town, grey-white tiled roofs and blue-white low walls will make you feel like you're in an old building complex built in layers and neat rows, and you might feel a little panicky. . . A small room full of character will be missed.

When you enter gate, you will see that this is not a courtyard in north, facing south, but a Suzhou garden surrounded by blue bricks and green tiles to south. It's hard to say same about every house. In Guangdong area, houses have ancestral halls and small courtyards, and most of them are two-story, as in Jiexi County. There will be two stone lions at entrance, and signs hanging on left and right columns, which are generally inspiring couplets.

There are several sculptures in ancestral hall, including a small wooden carving at cornice. There is a tea pavilion to right of entrance, several famous paintings hang on a white wall, and several side rooms on left side.Miscellaneous or books. Each house has its own layout, light and clean environment, and it is simply refreshing to be here.

After visiting hut, you can go to Sanshan King Temple to experience ancient flavor of tangible cultural heritage. A wooden sculpture of a phoenix in sky hangs on both sides of eaves, filled with a strong Hakka atmosphere and has unique customs of ethnic minorities.

Going further inside is a large hall, which is different from solemn and solemn temples in Buddhist culture. The royal temple has its own customs and customs. Traveling in Jiexi, you have to go to mountains, rivers and reservoirs in order to be an idle person and relax yourself.

You can sit in a small pavilion in middle of lake in shade of trees, drink a cup of spring tea and listen to echo of green mountains and green waters. Or climb low hills with a large area of ​​vegetation, slowly, not too fast, just enjoying, not sightseeing. Finally, take a small boat in Jingxi Garden drifting down quietly and feel like you are in a fairyland in verses and songs.

In Jiexi, whether it's landscape or language, it's a kind of cultural transmission. Only when you are on stage can you feel such a peach garden with beautiful scenery and customs, listen to dialect here, walk paths here, relax your body and mind and let yourself merge with it.