According to the United Nations, nearly 100 Chinese dialects, many of them spoken by China's 55 recognized ethnic minorities, are in danger of dying out. ... Yet the potential loss of the Beijing dialect is especially alarming because of the cultural heft it carries.

Are Chinese dialects dying out?

CHINESE dialects are on the brink of extinction. And it's happening sooner that expected. The declining use of dialects among the younger generation is inevitable as Mandarin becomes the common language of the Chinese community, author Rita Sim notes.

What is the rarest dialect in China?

Due to its long history and the isolation of the region in which it is spoken, Wenzhounese is so unusual in its phonology that it has the reputation of being the least comprehensible dialect for an average Mandarin speaker.