Northern Chinese vs Southern Chinese 

Thumbs up for Felicia!!!

Thumbs up for Team Dan!

My parents are from southern China (Canton). I am not an expert but I think Cantonese cuisine emphasizes on the natural flavor of the food. For example, if you are eating fish, you want to taste the fish. Dumplings, noodles and such are indeed tasty, but I don't think I can go a few days without eating rice.

Thumbs up for Team Mike!!!!

I think it's funny that Mike roots for the North and Dan for the South when - going by their looks - Mike looks like he's from the South and Dan from the North.

America is the same way. Americans from the South have their own unique style of Southern foods, dating, marriage standards, spirituality, language, dialects, and everything. It's amazing how similar China and America are in that respect.

Is it just me or does the guy with the Vancouver shirt look like Jackie Chan?

It is fantastic that you guys openly and fairly discuss all kind of topics and issues that are mysteries to waiguoren, lol. I am learning the hard part about living in or visiting China: the cultural part. Language is one thing, culture something else again. So, thanks for the amusing and instructive videos!

Like if you're Southern Chinese! If you are, which province or area of China? (I'm from Fuzhou, Fujian)

Southern China ! Who else is cantonese here :)?

You should do a video breaking down all the regions in china explaining their cuisine and such that would really interesting! Because there is so many ones and each is unique like Guangdong, Sichuan, Zhejiang, jilin along with hearing about western china(Xinjiang, tibet ext) which I don't think you have covered yet. cheers!

You all make me laugh so much. What great information, wonderful presentation, & profound humor accompanied by humility. Thank you so much for sharing.

One of the most interesting topics on this channel because I've seen similar correlations between the western and eastern regions in Japan across all the aspects you discussed. I'm not trying to be politically correct but I love BOTH authentic northern and southern Chinese cuisine! And I love your fearlessly frank talk that breaks so-called taboo across all East Asian countries!

for us Cantonese, outside GuangDong, it's Northern China

I'm not chinese but I'm fascinated by the diversity within that country. I was really interested in your video and plan to visit you again to learn more. I'm Puerto Rican born and raised in Ohio in the USA but our household was very traditional Puerto Rican customs, traditions, food, language, manner of dressing (modestly) but when it came to my education and school friends it was like stepping into another world.

ive been living in japan for a year now, i discover this channel today and heard Felicia talk. instnt homesick. the most strayan accent ever. i guess im so surprised as i dont seem to find many aussies on the youtubes.

I've lived in Shanghai, and I'm Italian…I'm looking forward to go back there. I totally LOVE Shanghai, I've travelled a lot, and I can totally see why you pointed out these differences, because they're reeeeeally true. Also one thing for me super surprising at the beginning were those park full of parents trying to find a wife or a husband for their sons and daughters, with billboards in which mainly there were written proprieties of the person, like if they had car license or not, if they had a car, a bicycle, a house, a job and what…there was something written about education, but was mainly about material stuff. I love your videos btw

the physical differences are huge, the noses and the shape of the eyes are so different between north and south, also southerners tend to be more tanned. I live in Taiwan for 2 years and now I'm living in Sichuan, people is SO different really.

cool i love these videos explaining the differences in countries! awesome video guys!

Enjoyed this. Pleasant surprise. Keep it up!

How can one claim spicy to be a northern flavor?!! That's totally Southern (Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou). Hot Pot is definitely Southern (Sichuan). Wanton, oh please, it's also Southern (Canton, Fujian). Northern food is salty, then what? more salty.

It is not Yangzi River，it should be QinLing Huaihe (秦岭淮河). Come on，how can you mistake this if you are going to introduce what is south and what is north. You don't even figure out the right boundary!

Incredible videos. Thank you for sharing!!

I enjoyed this discussion. Thank you for sharing your views.

My grandfather and ancestors are from Fujian province. They migrated to the Philippines during the war. Hokkien is greatly spoken by most Filipino-Chinese and Chinese living in the Philippines. Mandarin is taught in Chinese schools here but most of us speak and understand Hokkien better as it is the language our relatives spoke.

Omg!!! Yay! Felicia in da house! Don't worry Dan, I'm on ur team! Lol go shanghainese XP

I enjoyed that. Well done! Anything related to a different culture fascinates me.

Thanks! This video is very informative and interesting!

My parents are from Hainan Island. Not many people are familiar with the small island. So many people are so used to asking me if I strictly speak Cantonese and/or Mandarin. But I can speak both and Hainan as well.

If you could, I would love to see an episode where you talk about some of the lesser known peoples that make up China's over 50 ethnic groups. Especially some of the more surprising ones, like Uyghurs and Tajiks of Xinjiang for example.

love videos like this :) keep up the awesome videos!

Omg thank God I found this channel. Everyone focuses on Canto and Madarin but forgets Fuzhounese. Thanks for bringing my home spoken language to light!

The main difference between the taste is that the northern dishes is more salty and the southern dishes are sweeter

it's interesting seeing the parallels between north and south china areas and the north and south of the united states

Nice job, guys, this is a great video

Cool videos! You guys are fun to watch!

These guys are doing a great thing!

In the French Concession in Shanghai during the 1920's, the French authorities had a unit of riot police manned by northern Chinese (from the Beijing ang Manchuria regions, apparently), because they were considered taller and more physically imposing than the Shanghainese. Seems like Dan's not the only one with that impression.

Definitely need more of these type of videos! Maybe start comparing Chinese traditions from China vs Chinese traditions in Malaysia (from those that moved from China at the start of the 20th century)?

This was really interesting - thank you

I actually think there's a difference between north and south Taiwan as well! My family is Taiwanese and there's always a lot of comparison on the people from the north (AKA Taipei) and everyone else. I'd love to see a comparison video!

The provinces close to South East Asian have a lot of spicy foods too.

Working in China this RU-vid Channel has helped me so much!! 谢谢 :)

I've waited so long for a video like this O-O... yaaaaaay ^^

Definitely South, no questions about it. First of all, the very fact of it being linguistically diverse shows that not only "being southern" is paradoxically not exactly a thing, but what unites them (even before the advent of Standard Mandarin) is the need to overcome communication and cultural barriers. Already, you have some cultural exchange in a region (think Central Europe with its diverse Slavic and Germanic peoples), which prepares them for the next big thing: worldliness. Shandong, Tianjin, and Dalian are coastal, and yet no-one speaks of a "Shandong diaspora" or a "Tianjin diaspora" the same way you hear about a "Cantonese diaspora" or "Overseas Hokkien". Southern peoples were the first to venture beyond the confines of continental China all across the world. Contrast this with the North, which really exists as a thing because it is just so monolithic. Due to geography and culture, frontier elements from Mongol, Manchu, and Uighur/Muslim cultures seem to be absorbed unconsciously into the northern way of life without actually making a significant cultural impact. Because the North was the center of power for a long time, constantly having to deal with nomadic invaders as well as farming/pasturing for survival, I believe they are consequently less equipped to deal with the intricacies of polite society, so one could hardly blame them for being "direct" (i.e. brutish). Now, this wasn't always the case, as during the Silk Road times, Northern China had the same cosmopolitanism that we associate with Southern China today. Yes, Virginia - once upon a time, Xi'an was basically Shenzhen. But due to the development of history (and a few barbarian invasions), the North was relegated to the boonies while the South rose.

Southern and northern China are separated by qinling and huaihe. Jesus, you think Sichuan is in the north?

AWESOME video!

Thanks for the interesting video. As a beginner in mandarin language i find all the language and cultural differencies across chinese regions very crazy sometimes :)

there's no way northern food is better than southern food...we got seafood and all kind of fruits, lychee and all that. That alone can end this argument.

The dividing line for Northern and Southern China is not the Yangtze. It's actually the Huai River(淮河). The major cities along the Yangtze coast are considered southern China. Off the Great Wall

Learnt alot. Great vid x

a good documentary, ty for those

Hot pot is not from the North. You guys need to have the fact checked. Hot pot is from Sichuan (south of China) ...

Felicia is very pretty.

Great video. Always been lots of Asians in Vancouver but never knew the real differences until now . Thank you for info .

I read about that same wheat vs rice study!! When you started talking about it I was like "I know exactly what he is talking about and what he is going to say next"

I always though HK tv shows and films were full of bad acting/writing because the characters seemed so fake. Then I went to HK, hung out with my teenage cousins. Only then did I understand that the acting wasn't bad; that's just how people acted IRL. lol #princesssyndrome No hate. Cultural differences are interesting :-)

I'm Indian and I find this video very interesting because north and south India has some of the same differences you mention between the north and south of China.

Just wanted to say . . . my boyfriend and I saw Mike at a Sichuan chain when we were visiting NY V-day weekend. We're from the Midwest so it's rare for us to see anyone famous. Let's just say it was one highlight of the trip. ^_^ Like the videos and the discussions! Keep it up!

Omg Mike we're so alike !!!! I have such a bad memory, especially for faces !! Once I watched a short movie and a same actor was playing 2 versions of himself, dressed differently... I didn't get the whole movie until the end because I thought that they weren't the same guy ! For the quality, that video was great, so informative. I did know there were food differences between the north and south but had no idea that there could be any other ! I thought Shanghai and Beijing would be the same atmosphere, so I really learned something from this video :) Apart from the accent, I grew up in Taiwan and in Beijing and I must say that it's 2 different worlds for the accents hahah ! I remember, we first lived in Taiwan and then moved to Beijing : my brother was born when we were already in Beijing, and he would always talk like this "ayiiiiii wo yaor qu wannrrr!!!!" ^^" ! For the food, I don't have preferences for anything, love all of them, couldn't choose. But I do have a soft spot for Taiwan though, Mike let's go live there and fill our bellies and cause starvation ! Hahahah

Most of People who lives in Chinatown are Cantonese whom from southern China. The ridiculous thing is they are representing for a Whole China, considering the fact that They are so different from Mandarins.

30 lbs heavier,in Mike's case, a lot of that will be in muscle, so don't worry too much So good to see visitors on the show

Thanks for sharing video .

oh wow. I learn so much from you guys :)

I'm getting the notion, that Japan has more of a relation to southern china then north with rice and tea ceremony all interesting

I'm Southern Chinese (Hong Kong) and personally I love northern food better x3

Very fun and educational! What I like best about China... the History, and the romanticized myths around it, like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms! You guys are awesome.

ありがとうございます OTGW

just want to point out that wonton is definitely a southern/cantonese thing... even the word itself is in canto...

Is Mike from the same part of China as Jackie Chan? He looks like Jackie chan

You both rock!

You guys are so right about the differences

I thought the guy on the right was Cantonese because he looked sort of like Jackie Chan, lol

Speaking as a Taiwanese girl here, I never thought of my mandarin as particularly "cutesy" until my Chinese and Singaporean friends pointed it out. So it's definitely not a deliberate attempt. But it definitely sounds gentler to my ears compared to say, the Beijing accent.

Ahh I love Mulan so much! And this was so interesting

OTGW, great video. I like it but can you improve the sound quality. When you talk at a normal volume, it's fine but when the voices are slightly raised, the effect sounds super loud for some reason. I don't want to miss the content if I turned it down a little bit. Thank you! :)

Mike would gain 30 lbs if he visits Taiwan. I'm from there and absolutely love the food.

I prefer the lifestyle and the innovation of the south (I think the sea has allowed for a blend of ideas etc.) I prefer the food and morals of the north. I am generalizing completely though.

Today's show was great !

The boundary is not Yangtz River, and according to geographics textbook in China, it is supposed to be Qingling Mountain-Huai River boundary.

one of my favorite food in the world is cantonese

The way I see it, Taiwan is part of China, but it’s simply not under the jurisdiction of the Communist Party. It’s the same way you can say that both South Korea and North Korea are part of Korea.

This is a great video, but you guys should do one on the drinking/banquet differences between the North and the South. Northern baijiu will literally blow your mind.

keep it up!

north food - lets put chilli in everything because food tastes like shit

my mum;s from the north and my dad's from the south ._.

you got a new subscriber

Lol ... I love how you guys are so serious about food

I come from Sichuan province. I always believe I come from south China, but according to the map you provide, I am from North China! Unbelievable!

Nitori ShogiPlayer They sound like pirates!

hahahaha I love when Mike and Dan start to argue when non-intended

The north and south of China also had different warrior cultures. In the north, there was most use of siegecraft and cavalry in warfare while in the south there was a stronger emphasis on marines and naval combat.

Damn, this is strangely similar to the differences in northern and southern Americans.😱 American/Chinese mirror dimension. ⚡️💜🤫🌎🌏

Sorry mike I'm gona go with #teamdan with the food. Bc northern food is really in ur face n I be like 😤🙅 whoaaaaa get out of my face

Awesome video :) Could you do a video on rural vs urban living in china?

Ok thank you, Mr. Michael Wong

中國的南北分界線時秦嶺淮河，並不是長江，長江流域都屬於南方。

BEIJING ren here!!!

Revive this channel, pleaaaase!

The guy in the right looks A LOT like Jackie Chan, doesn't he? :-p Very nice videos, is wonderful to find things like this in the Internet, explaing subtle differences to the rest of the world :-) Straight to my favorites.