The Hakka language (客語) is spoken by the Hakka people (客家人), who immigrated to Fujian later than the majority ethnic Min, occupy the mountainous areas in Western Fujian and the adjacent provinces of Guangdong (廣東) and Jiangxi (江西). The Hakka also have a significant population in Southeast Asia. Gan (贛語) and Wu (吳語), the major native language in Jiangxi and Zhejiang (浙江) respetively, distributed on the border between Fujian and the two provinces mentioned above. Of the 9 major native languages spoken in Fujian, the only one off the map, which is also the only none Han-Chinese language, is the She language (畬語) spoken by the She people (畬族人) scattered in the mountainous areas on the east coast of Fujian. But the modern She language in Fujian is similar to Hakka, possibly because the She lived side by side with the Hakka in history before they migrated to their present locations.This linguistic diversity comes from the immigration history and the geographic isolation of Fujian. Waves of immigrants from central China at different eras in history brought the ancient Chinese language of different ages to Fujian, and probably the intermarriage between these ancient Chinese immigrants and a few native Minyue people of Fujian gave birth to the Min language group. The isolated regions in Fujian created by the mountainous terrains helped preserve the linguistic diversity. The differences in language resulted in the formation of different ethnic groups, and each ethnic group fostered its own unique culture.

Ethnic culture is too big a topic to deal with, so I narrow down this topic to architecture and opera, two objects that are visually and aurally vivid.Like the languages, the traditional architecture styles in Fujian are distinct from region to region. The boundaries between different architecture styles usually coincide with the corresponding linguistic boundaries. So it is easy to distinguish Eastern Min architecture from Southern Min architecture or Northern Min architecture.
The Southern Min architecture is distinguished by the red bricked walls, symmetric layouts with central atria and highly decorated roof ridge, and many of them can be huge, with areas of over ten thousand of square meters (over 2 acres). The most famous Southern Min architectures include the Cai's Mansion in Nan'an, Fujian (福建南安蔡氏古民居) and the Lim's Mansion in Taichung, Taiwan (臺中霧峰林宅). Southern Min migrants brought their architecture to Taiwan, but one question still puzzles me: why does Southern Min architecture only reach as far as Taiwan and I didn't see many of them in Southeast Asia? I really don't know. Found in the Eastern-Min-speaking regions of Fuzhou (福州) and Fu'an (福安), the Eastern Min architecture is marked by the white or grey walls, saddle-shaped gables and gates with water drip eaves (雨披) and pai-du (牌堵). Eastern Min architectures can be huge, too, in fact, the largest single traditional mansion in China is said to be Hong-lin-cuo (宏琳厝), an Eastern Min architecture in Minqing, Fujian (福建閩清) with an area of 17,000 square meters (4.2 acres); and the largest living traditional urban building complex in the metropolitan areas in China is the Three Lanes and Seven Alleys (三坊七巷) at the heart of Fuzhou City, which consists of Eastern Min buildings. Northern Min architecture in Northwestern Fujian is famous for its brick carving, particular on the front gates and walls. The themes of the carvings are mostly plants and animals. With its red walls, the Puxian style architecture is somewhat similar to Southern Min, but it usually has overhanging gable roofs (懸山頂) rather than the flush gable roofs (硬山頂) in Southern Min architecture.
Central Min architecture is a style mixed with many styles (Hakka, Eastern Min, Southern Min, etc). 
There are 34 different kinds of operas in Fujian, including both existing and extinct ones. Almost each region or ethnic group has their own unique operas, for example, the Foochow people have Min Opera (閩劇), the Hinghua people have Puxian Opera (莆仙戲), the Southern Min have Gaojia Opera (高甲戲), Xiang Opera (known as Koa-á-hì or Taiwanese Opera in Taiwan, 薌劇/歌仔戲) and Liyuan Opera (梨園戲), the Hakka have Hakka Han Opera (閩西漢劇) and the Northern Min have Youchun Opera (游春戲). Among these 34 operas, the most influential five are Min Opera, Puxian Opera, Liyuan Opera, Xiang Opera and Gaojia Opera. Min Opera is rooted in Fuzhou and has influence in all over the Eastern Min speaking regions and even in some Southeast Asian Foochow communities.
Min Opera is performed in standard Foochow language. Puxian Opera is said to have more than 700 years of history, but due to the relatively small Puxian-speaking population, it is restricted in Putian, Xianyou and part of Hui'an. Thanks to the large Southern-Min-speaking population, Gaojia Opera, Liyuan Opera and Xiang Opera are thriving in Fujian, Taiwan and many Southeast Asian countries, and they are all performed in Southern Min language.Although Fujian has the highest linguistic and cultural diversity of all the Han-Chinese-dominant provinces in China, most people remain, unfortunately, unaware of this. More than once I heard people asking me if Hakka is the other name of Southern Min, or if the Foochowese speak Southern Min. Yes, many Chinese, even some Fujianese (not to mention the foreigners) fail to recognize the different ethnic groups in Fujian. I believe, once they see the uniqueness of the different ethnic cultures of Fujian, they'll be surprised. That's why I wrote this article.
All pictures are from the internet:)
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