Wu Chinese Translator
About Wu Chinese
Wu Chinese is a major branch of Chinese languages spoken primarily in the Yangtze River Delta region. Its history stretches back over two thousand years, developing distinctly from other Chinese varieties due to geographic isolation. Approximately 81 million people speak Wu Chinese, with Shanghainese being its most prominent dialect.
Wu Chinese is written using simplified Chinese characters, though many colloquial Wu expressions lack standard written forms. It is spoken across Shanghai, Zhejiang province, and southern Jiangsu province. An interesting fact is that Wu Chinese retains voiced initial consonants that were present in Middle Chinese but lost in Mandarin, making it valuable for historical linguists studying the evolution of Chinese languages.