Subgroups of the Han nationality

The sub groups of the Han Chinese people, also known as Chinese dialect groups or just dialect groups, are defined based on linguistic, cultural, genetic, and regional features. The terminology used in Mandarin to describe the groups is: "minxi" (Chinese: 民系; pinyin: mínxì; Wade–Giles: min² hsi⁴ /min ɕi/ "ethnic lineages"), used in Mainland China, or "zuqun" (Chinese: 族群; pinyin: zúqún; Wade–Giles: tzu² ch'ün² /ʦu ʨʰyn/, "ethnic groups"), used in Taiwan. Other than Hui people, which is a classification for Muslims of all backgrounds, no Han subgroup is recognized as one of People's Republic of China's 56 official minority ethnic groups.

Mandarin, also known as the Northern dialects, is the largest of the Chinese languages. Native speakers, even in regions where non-Mandarin speakers historically dominated, Mandarin is being brought in as a lingua franca. The Mandarin-speaking groups are the largest group in mainland China, but in the diaspora the Min, Hakka and Cantonese dialects are more numerous. The Dungan people of Central Asia are native Central Plains Mandarin speaking Hui peoples. Other notable Mandarin-speaking peoples include the Sichuanese people and Jianghuai people.

...
Wikipedia