Cantonese Businesspeople

Shenzhen City
Guangdong
Province lies in the south of China. Yue people, or Guangfu Ren in Cantonese
-- believed to be the product of mixing and assimilation between the early
immigrants and the ancient Guyue minority (an ancient minority in Southeast
China) -- mainly refer to the Cantonese speakers residing around the Pearl
River Delta region.
Benefiting from the Guyue heritage and having been nurtured by Han culture
from mid-China, Yue culture has grown into a splendidly rich one, and the
influences of Western culture and the once colony economy have also contributed
a lot to its complexity.
So the businesspeople nurtured amidst the Yue culture in Guangdong are
different from those of inland China.
Less interested in politics
In ancient times, large areas of Guangdong were swampy, and typhoons often
wreaked havoc along its coast. Such difficult living conditions led the
Cantonese to emphasize practicality for survival. As a result, Cantonese, like
Shanghainese,
were less interested in politics and officialdom than Beijingers.
Mountainous terrain separated Guangdong into various small, independent units
and prevented much exchange with the culture and social systems of Central
China. Traditional Chinese culture, particularly Confucian ideals and the
philosophy of moderation, weakened as they passed through Hunan, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang
provinces, and so reached Guangdong in a
modified form.
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