Shanghai Airlines have announced plans to include passenger announcements in Shanghainese, as well as Putonghua and English, on a number of flights. The scheme is set to begin after Chinese New Year, with the local dialect making an appearance on flights arriving from Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan in order to "give visitors a sense of the city's personality." more ›

Shanghai's on a mission to silence Shanghainese before the World Expo comes to town. According to the South China Morning Post, Shanghai authorities are pushing forth their 12th annual Putonghua Promotional Week, a week-long Mandarin campaign that hopes to stop instances of people talking only in the Shanghainese dialect. Besides the Week, the government has also broadcast tv and radio adverts in recent months that portray Shanghainese as "uncivilized or backward." The Global Times outlines some of the reactions to official efforts to wipe out Shanghainese, pointing out that it's disappearing on its own anyway and that something precious will probably disappear along with it. "Once the dialect is lost," says Ma Lili, deputy chief director of the Hu Opera Theater of Shanghai, "the culture will surely follow." more ›