Huizhou is a famous historical and cultural city in Guangdong Province. In ancient times, it was known as a famous county in Lingnan and the gateway to eastern Guangdong.

In more than a thousand years from the Tang Dynasty to modern times, more than 480 Chinese celebrities lived or visited Huizhou. Among them, Su Dongpo, the great writer of the Northern Song Dynasty, lived in Huizhou for three years. Sun Yat-sen and Zhou Enlai once conducted revolutionary activities here. Liao Zhongkai, Deng Yanda,

Ye Ting, Zeng Sheng and other democratic ideals and revolutionaries all came from Huizhou.

Language: Chinese dialects are mainly spoken in Huizhou City, with a few people speaking Yao or She languages.

There are people who speak Yao in Lantian Yao Township in the north of Longmen County, but they have gradually become Chinese; there are a few people in Huidong and Boluo who speak She language.

Hakka is the largest Chinese dialect in Huizhou City. This is related to the inherent cultural and historical background of the city and its long-term close exchanges with the Hakka areas to the north, such as Meizhou, Shaoguan, and Heyuan.

Shanwei City in the east mainly speaks Hokkien, and there are people in the eastern part of the city who speak Hokkien (Hoklo dialect).

Guangzhou and Dongguan in the west mainly speak Cantonese, so some people in the west speak Cantonese (vernacular).

In addition, some people in Boluo and Longmen speak "local dialect".

In the current jurisdiction of Huizhou City, in addition to the common Hakka dialects with Xingmei and Huiyang accents, there is also a "local dialect" group whose origin is still controversial.

After research, it was found that most of the "local dialects" in central Guangdong and the late Hakka who migrated from the Meizhou area in modern times are similar but different in dialect essential attributes. They are distributed in 11 counties in the three cities of Huizhou, Heyuan and Shaoguan in the Dongjiang River Basin.

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According to the collections of Liu Shuxin and Hou Xiaoying, this dialect is distributed in: 1. Lilin, Shuikou, Ma'an, Pingtan, Hengli and Luzhou in the urban and suburban areas of Huizhou.

2. Boluo County: mainly distributed on the north bank of the Dongjiang River in the south, such as Luoyang (county seat), Longxi, Longhua, Huzhen, Henghe, Yangcun, Gongzhuang, Guanyinge and other towns; 3. Huiyang District: adjacent to Huicheng District

There are a few villages in Pingtan, Zhenlong and other towns that use local dialects; 4. Huidong County: distributed in Sansheng and Mingxi in Duozhu Town, Dabu, Jiaotian and other villages in Daling Town.

5. Longmen County: The local dialect is mainly distributed in towns such as Pingling and Luxi in the southeast; 6. Yuancheng District and Dongyuan County: The local dialect is the mainstream and is mainly distributed in urban areas, lighthouses, boat ponds, Kanghe, etc.

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7. Longchuan County: Laolong (county seat), Tuocheng, Fucheng, Yidu, Sidu, Heshi, thoroughfare and other towns on both sides of the Dongjiang River in the south.

8. Zijin County: Residents of many villages in Linjiang, Guzhu, Baipu, Yirong, Huangtang and other towns near Heyuan City in the west use it.

9. Lianping County: In the south, it is adjacent to Dongyuan County and Xinfeng County, such as Zhongxin, Youxi, Sanjia, Dahu, Xiudan, Gaoduan, Longjie, Tianyuan, Xishan and other towns.

10. Heping County: most of Linzhai and Dongshui towns in the southeast and some villages in Pengzhai, Guzhai and other towns.

11. Xinfeng County, Shaoguan City: The local dialect ("Shuiyuan dialect") is mainly distributed in the three eastern towns of Matou, Shijiao and Daxi. It is also spoken by some residents in Fengcheng and Meikeng Town.

With the advancement of society and the continuous emergence of new things, the Chinese dialect in Huizhou City is also gradually changing, mainly manifested in the introduction of new words and the withdrawal of some old words.

At the same time, Hakka, Hokkien and vernacular words are also absorbed and used in communication.

This results in certain changes in the general vocabulary of several dialects.

Due to the promotion of Mandarin and the entry of more outsiders (especially people from other provinces), the use of Chinese dialects and Mandarin in Huizhou City is also changing, especially in Huicheng District.

, the usage rate of dialects has been much lower than the usage rate of Mandarin.

The usage rate of dialects in each county also shows a downward trend.

Sidong culture is Huizhou’s unique cultural highlight, which refers to: Dongjiang, Dongpo, Dongzheng, and Dongzong.

Dongjiang culture refers to the synthesis of the main cultural resources of the Dongjiang area centered on Huizhou.

Its main body is Hakka culture, which includes the natural geography, ancient times, folk customs, religions, and revolutionary history of the Dongjiang River Basin.

Dongpo culture refers to Su Dongpo's Yuhui culture.

That is, Su Dongpo’s social and cultural activities, ideological and cultural connotations and the huge impact they had during his stay in Hui.

The Eastern Expedition culture refers to the two Eastern Expeditions and the worker-peasant movement launched by the Kuomintang led by Sun Yat-sen in order to achieve national unification.

Dongzong culture refers to the glorious history of the establishment of the Dongjiang base area by the anti-Japanese guerrillas led by the Communist Party of China, including the development process of the Dongzong and the deeds of heroic figures.

When "Dongjiang Culture" was proposed, some applauded and others opposed it. Although the concept of "New Sidong Culture" has been officially launched, there is still a lot of controversy among academic circles and officials.