Dialects endangered by modernization

BEIJING - Despite government efforts to protect minority languages, they are still faced with the danger of disappearing due to modernization, top advisers have warned.

There are 56 officially recognized ethnic groups in China and more than 100 of the country's dialect languages are in danger of dying out, according to the United Nations.

"The government has tried to protect minority languages by recording them, although the pace has not been fast enough to match the speed of their disappearance," said Li Lan, professor of dialectology at the Institute of Linguistics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and also a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).