TheHan Chinese people can be defined intosubgroups based on linguistic, cultural, ethnic, genetic, and regional features. The terminology used inMandarin to describe the groups is: "minxi" (Chinese:民系;pinyin:mínxì;Wade–Giles:min² hsi⁴;lit. 'ethnic lineages',pronounced[mǐnɕî]), used inMainland China or "zuqun" (Chinese:族群;pinyin:zúqún;Wade–Giles:tzu² ch'ün;lit. 'ethnic groups',pronounced[tsǔtɕʰy̌n]), used inTaiwan. No Han subgroup is recognized as one ofPeople's Republic of China's 56official ethnic groups. In Taiwan, only three subgroups,Hakka,Hoklo, andWaishengren are recognized.

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• Total Native Han Speakers: 885,000,000^[1]

Mandarin, also known as the Northern dialects, is the largest of the Chinese languages. Even in regions where non-Mandarin speakers historically dominated, Mandarin is being brought in as alingua franca. The Mandarin-speaking groups are the largest group in mainland China, but in thediaspora the Min, Hakka and Cantonese dialects are more numerous. TheDungan people ofCentral Asia are native Central Plains Mandarin-speakingHui peoples. Other notable Mandarin-speaking peoples include theSichuanese people andJianghuai people.

TheJianghuai people distribute in theJianghuai region between theYangtze river (Jiang, 江) and theHuai river (淮) in centralAnhui and centralJiangsu. The Lower Yangtze Mandarin or the Jianghuai Mandarin is distinctive from other Mandarin dialects. The main dialects of the language is theNanjing dialect.

The Jiao-Liao people are distributed on bothJiaodong Peninsula andLiaodong Peninsula. Since pre-historical periods, the 2 peninsulas have been closely related, culturally, economically etc.^[2] Their strong relationship is partly attributed to Miaodao Archipalegos^[2] (seeChangdao County) in between theBohai Strait, because they made the inter-strait voyage easier . The 2 peninsulas are both surrounded by theBohai Sea to the west and theYellow Sea to all other directions.

TheJiaoliao Mandarin differs from neighboring dialects significantly (e.g.,Jilu Mandarin,Northeastern Mandarin), possibly due to the lack of population interchange and the insularity of Jiao-Liao Culture. Rongcheng dialect is the most archaic form of Jiaoliao Mandarin, in terms of vocabulary and pronunciation.

TheSichuanese people are centered aroundChongqing andSichuan. TheSouthwestern Mandarin are also the lingua Franca inGuangxi andHubei.

• Total Native Han Speakers: 77,175,000^[1]

Wu-speaking peoples, in particular, are concentrated in theYangtze River basin (southernJiangsu, the wholeShanghai, most ofZhejiang and parts of southernAnhui), northernFujian, and northeasternJiangxi. Scattered remnants of Wu-speaking Chinese are found in other parts of China, such as inGuizhou,Sichuan,Chongqing andXinjiang, as a result after 1964. Most of them outside of Jiangnan region usually speak variants ofTaihu Wu dialects.Wu Chinese is spoken chiefly in theWu region.Jiangnanese people consist of bothShanghainese people and Ningbo people, as well as other ethnic Han inJiangnan. They mostly speak variants ofTaihuWu Chinese. Other languages spoken are Jianghuai Mandarin and Xuanzhou Wu Chinese.

TheShanghainese people are centered aroundShanghai and speak theShanghainese dialect ofWu. Ningbo people are another Wu-speaking Chinese group and speak theNingbo dialect.Wenzhou people are a Wu-speaking Chinese group who speakWenzhounese. Though a significant minority are also speakers of a dialect ofMin Nan known asZhenan Min. IfHuizhou Chinese was fully considered to be a subdivision of Wu Chinese, then people fromHuizhou are considered to be Wu-speaking.

Wu Chinese is also spoken by a minuscule minority, particularly bymainlanders, both inTaiwan and inHong Kong, as also other overseas Chinese communities.

• Total Native Han Speakers: 66,000,000^[1]

Yue or Cantonese speakers are predominant in thePearl River basin (western-centralGuangdong and eastern-centralGuangxi), as well as inHong Kong andMacau. The Yue dialects spoken in Guangxi province are mutually intelligible with Cantonese. For instance, Wuzhou is about 120 miles upstream from Guangzhou, but its dialect is more like that of Guangzhou than is that of Taishan which is 60 miles southwest of Guangzhou and separated by several rivers from it. Cantonese is also spoken by some locals in Hainan. For example, the Mai dialect which is closely related to Cantonese, is spoken in Hainan Province.

There are Cantonese-speaking communities in Southeast Asia, particularly in Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, and to a lesser extent, in Indonesia. Many Cantonese emigrants, particularlyTaishanese peoples, also migrated to United States and Canada, and later in Australia and New Zealand as well. As a result, Cantonese continues to be widely used by Chinese communities of Guangzhou and Hong Kong/Macau origin in the Western World and has not been completely supplanted by Mandarin.

• Total Native Han Speakers of Min (all groups): 60,000,000^[3]

Min speakers are scattered throughout southern China but mostly concentrated on provinces ofFujian andHainan, with some parts inGuangdong (especially inChaoshan), the tip of southernZhejiang andTaiwan.

There are several main dialects inMin Chinese. TheFuzhou dialect of Min Dong, is spoken by theFuzhou people who are native to the city ofFuzhou. The dialect ofPuxian Min is represented by thePutian people (also known as Xinghua or Henghua), the Puxian-speaking people are native toPuxian.

TheHokkien dialects ofMin Nan spoken in Southern Fujian and Taiwan is the largest Min division and spoken by largerHoklo population compared to other Min dialects. Furthermore, Hokkien is further extended into other uniqueMin Nan groups who speaks variants of the Min Nan dialect. TheTeochew people who are native to eastern Guangdong andHainanese people who are native of Hainan island are allMin Nan dialect groups. The dialect ofCangnan, which isZhenan Min, is spoken inWenzhou, Zhejiang. Outside of mainland China and Taiwan, Min Nan also make up the biggest Chinese dialect group among the overseas Chinese populations in Southeast Asia such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines.

• Total Native Han Speakers: 36,015,000^[1]

Xiang speakers mostly live inHunan province, and so are often calledHunanese people. Xiang-speaking people are also found in the adjacent provinces ofHubei,Jiangxi andSichuan. TheXiangnan Tuhua users are the minority ethnic subgroup in this region.

• Total Native Han Speakers: 34,000,000^[1]

TheHakka people speaksHakka and are predominant in parts ofGuangdong,Guangxi,Fujian,Jiangxi andTaiwan. They are one of the largest groups found among theEthnic Han in Southeast Asia.

• Total Native Han Speakers: 20,580,000^[1]

The origin of Gan-speaking peoples in China are from Jiangxi province in China. Gan-speaking populations are also found in Fujian, southern Anhui and Hubei provinces, and linguistic enclaves are found in Taiwan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hainan, Guangdong, Fujian and non-Gan speaking Jiangxi.

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Other minor subgroups include speakers of theTanka people,Gaoshan Han,Tunpu,Caijia,Peranakans,Chuanqing,Kwongsai people,Waxiang people andTaz people.

The culture of the Han Chinese is complex and diverse. The vast geographic scale of China has led the Han to culturally separate themselves into northern and southern divisions.

• Zhongyuan culture (中原)
• Beijing culture (北京)
• Shandong culture (魯/鲁)
• Jin culture (晉/晋)^[4][5][6]
• Dongbei culture (東北/东北)

• Hubei culture (楚)
• Lingnan culture (粵/粤)
• Hakka culture (客)
• Teochew culture (潮)
• Hokkien culture (閩南/闽南)
• Xinghua culture (興化)
• Fuzhou Culture (闽都/闽东)
• Jiangxi culture (贛)
• Huizhou culture (徽)
• Hunanese culture (湘)
• Sichuanese culture (蜀)
• Wuyue culture (吳/吴)
• Wenzhou culture (瓯)
• Haipai culture (海)
• Hong Kong culture (港)
• Macanese culture (澳)

The Han people originated in mainland China. Each Han subgroup is generally associated with a particular region in China; the Cantonese originated inLiangguang, the Putian inPuxian, the Foochow inFuzhou, the Hoklo inSouthern Fujian, the Chaoshan/Teochew in eastern Guangdong,^[7] the Hakka in eastern/central Guangdong and western Fujian, and the Shanghainese inShanghai.

In Hong Kong, a majority of the population areCantonese. According to the CIA World Factbook, 89% of Hong Kongers speak theCantonese language.^[8] Other Han Chinese peoples present in Hong Kong include the Hakka, Teochew, Hoklo andShanghainese besides ethnic minorities like the Tankas.

As per the 2021 census of Macau, 89.4% of Macau's population declared themselves to be of Chinese ethnicity.^[9] Most speak Cantonese as their "usual language" (81%).^[10] In English, the termMacanese people tends to refer to people of mixed Cantonese andPortuguese descent.^[11]Macau people is used to describe anyone who originates from or lives in Macau.

• Overseas Chinese
• Regional discrimination in China
• Ethnic groups of Southeast Asia

• Subgroups of the Han Chinese

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