ABSTRACT
Yuehua is the more formal word given by linguists to the "Cantonese language," especially when they are referring to all of the many related subdialects, not just the Standard Cantonese of the cities of Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Separated from the rest of China by the high mountains of the Nanling range, the peoples of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces have long considered themselves somewhat apart from other Sinitic peoples. Persons from Guangdong Province are quite consistently stereotyped by other Han Chinese subethnic groups. The aesthetic preferences of the Yue peoples are often claimed by other Chinese to show a lack of proper artistic restraint, and the people of Guangzhou are charged with a tendency toward garish ostentation. The linguistic dimension is only part of what separates the Yue peoples from other Sinitic groups, but it is an important part. British-ruled Hong Kong and Portuguese Macao are two of the smaller territorial fragments that make up the mosaic of modern China.
