Chinese is the language spoken by the Han people — the most commonly used language in China and one of the most commonly used languages in the world. Many non-Chinese sometimes get the feeling that there are an unlimited number of Chinese characters. However, only about 3,000 characters are in common use, accounting for 99 percent of the total characters used in the written language, according to modern surveys. All of China’s 55 minority peoples have their own languages except the Hui and Manchu, who use Chinese; 21 minorities have their own script, in which 27 languages are written. Schools today in predominantly ethnic minority areas in China conduct classes in the local language, using local-language textbooks.
