"Old Beijing" accented Mandarin
 

The "Old Beijing" (老北京） guy's Mandarin can be really strong and hard to understand, though i do enjoy listening to the accent.

Had one old dude offer to take me on a tour of the hutong, which i was semi-interested in, but had to decline since i could hardly understand what he was saying!
He probably mixed in some Beijing dialect words with the Mandarin that he was speaking.

The women tend to be easier to understand as their local accent isnt so strong.

Modern Beijingers can actually change from their Beijing accent to normal putonghua accent.

Not just the Beijingers in fact, the northerners have a strong accent and they tend to pull their accent upwards towards the end of the sentence.

Southerners don't.

I have a friend from HK, who speaks far better Mandarin than most of us, that came here for the sole purpose of learning Beijing Hua (which she reveres in the same manner that some attribute to the "Queen's English"). In fact, she went through no less than 5 tutors before she found someone with an accent that met her standards.

Personally, I think that Mandarin spoken in other parts of China sounds better than Beijing Hua (except for conflating "s" and "sh"; that's just annoying), but I do appreciate the traditions surrounding the Beijing dialect, and the perceived ties with nobility.

Are we talking about the same accent that sounds like a boat-load of pirates just landed? Does that sound posh to chinese ears???!!

tb

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There are 'pirates' in the BJ money worship society ?

Wish that was true of Brooklynites.

:D

One of the best descriptions I've ever heard! ^ :D

For me the easiest to understand and best sounding Mandarin is spoken in the capital of the renegade province. They have the best food there too!

I'm always surprised when I return to Beijing hear the rrrrrr at the end of everything. I kinda like it.

I've found most Chinese from the Harbin area (actually much of Heilongjiang) speak a very nice clear putonghua without the various affectations plaguing other regions including Beijing. Foreign students of Mandarin rate it very highly as a place to study, just for this reason.

I thought Shanghai's mandarin was good without accent, just that they speak that damn fast.

I find it a bit ridiculous that one (meaning a local who can speak 'accented' Mandarin) would try and learn the BJ accent....but that's China.

TW accent is most natural for me, but that's because I learned most of my speaking ability there and had my original exposure there. It sometimes shocks the locals in the Mainland because just about every laowai they meet who can speak Mandarin has a textbook BJ accent.

The TW accent might be a tad heavier but this is due to the min dialect influence. After thinking and thinking, perhaps there's no non-accented mandarin. Just perhaps one which you are more comfortable with. I am uncomfortable with the northern accent but that's me. ;)

I'm reminded of the "那个" thread.

Good thing Huntsman didn't debate Obama
and speak in Mandarin.

THAT ONE