By Yuan Yuan

For the first few years after Abudullah Urashim left his hometown in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， “2 yuan for 50 grams” was the most fluent Standard Chinese sentence that he could say. He left Xinjiang to sell raisins in east China and used this phrase to answer all questions posed by his customers.

When he and his wife left Xinjiang in 1997， Abudullah could only speak his native Uygur language， but he was confident hed be able to learn Standard Chinese in less than three years. However， as the couple moved around between cities in east China， financial burdens and unstable living arrangements did not give him the time and energy he needed to learn the language. After three years in the east， he was still unable to converse with his customers fluently.

While his communication difficulties created a number of challenges for Abudullah， they also drew support from warm-hearted locals who saw him selling raisins on the street. Unable to understand and remember the Standard Chinese names of these locals， he saved their details into his phone contacts under titles such as “the man with the big belly，” “the man with long hair” and “the man with glasses.”

Changes by the language

In 2006， Abudullah moved to Zhejiang Province to look for more business opportunities and met an older woman making and selling jianbing， a type of savory crepe， on the street. The woman taught him jianbing-making skills as well as Standard Chinese sentences， although she did so with a strong Henan accent.

Encouraged by his new skills， Abudullah went to Nanchang， capital of Jiangxi Province， to start his own business. He opened a restaurant offering Xinjiang cuisine， and in his spare time helped other Uygur people in the city to learn Standard Chinese and do business.

In May 2017， Abudullah wrote a long letter to his mother in Xinjiang， telling her about his experiences in detail and suggesting she share the letter with friends in his hometown.

The letter caught the attention of China Central Television （CCTV）， which reported on the story during a morning news program. Hai Xia， a CCTV news presenter， was deeply impressed by the story. At that time， with the support of Chinas National Radio and Television Administration， Hai initiated a program to teach Standard Chinese to people living in poor areas， especially the areas inhabited by ethnic minorities.

“The proportion of Chinese people who speak Standard Chinese is currently 80.72 percent，” Hai said at a forum on poverty governance held in Yunnan Province on May 18. “That means there are more than 280 million people in China who cant speak Standard Chinese.”