Since Canton borders Hong Kong and uses the same language, it was easier for people from there to go to Hong Kong than from the rest of mainland China.

Even after the People’s Republic of China was founded, large numbers of Cantonese continued to emigrate to Hong Kong to look for a better life, or to use it as a bridge to the United States, because Hong Kong was a free port.

Indeed, among Chinese, it is common knowledge that Chinatown is somewhere a Chinese person can live freely without necessarily speaking English.

iving in the community during those years forced her to learn Cantonese. "At that time, it was almost mandatory,"

"If you couldn’t speak Cantonese, people even wouldn’t talk to you."