@nev @hanktank61 My people left and went everywhere. It's amazing for me to see the various Chinatown's in countries whose languages I don't speak and see how similar yet different our cuisines and culture ended up. Once upon a time in Lisboa, I got lost. I walked past a Chinese resto thinking "I may as well try". I walked in using my very half assed broken mandarin (this was before I started to learn it). The woman apologized and said she didn't speak it in my paternal grandparents dialect, the first language I ever spoke in my life. The woman was nearly in tears speaking to a younger generation tai Shan descendant who could speak her language. She walked my butt back to the subway. We all left and call different places home but our language remains. This is why I insist on my kids speaking Chinese. Sadly, this particular dialect isn't getting passed on but they can cross communicate.