Thought of the Day

Dialects in Beijing

For whatever reason, the dialect in Beijing is pretty much a form of Mandarin I've never come across before. It is nearly impossible for anyone who speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, or any form of Putonghua to understand.

Now, my trouble is:
I cannot read nor write in Chinese.
I can understand and speak in Cantonese.
I can understand most spoken Mandarin.
My parents can read, write, and speak in Cantonese, and Mandarin.

I know a lot of people from Taiwan as well, and they speak Mandarin almost exclusively. They too cannot make out 90% of the Beijing Mandarin Dialect.

That isn't my biggest concern is that people in Beijing don't know English. At all, it seems. I've been to Shanghai, and people there at least try to say a Hello or Thank You in English.
However, in Beijing... even the people in the hospitality industry (those working in hotels or in restaurants) couldn't speak a lick of English.

The airport? I got ignored if I asked someone a question in English. Cantonese? Ignored. Mandarin? I got a few questioning looks and then a sentence or two of unintelligible babble.

I've just never been to a 1st world city (the second most populated and one of the richest) and experienced a culture who didn't communicate in English!

Hmm. I wonder what the cause is. Well. I have my sneaking suspicions... China is pretty much in its own little bubble. That bubble is segregating the knowledge input of its inhabitants!