Sanjiazi (;

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

:, Möllendorff: ilan boo) is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

or Ilanbotokso in (), Fuyu County,

Qiqihar Qiqihar (also spelled Tsitsihar) is the second-largest city in the Heilongjiang province of China, in the west central part of the province. The built-up (or metro) area made up of Longsha, Tiefeng and Jianhua districts had 959,787 inhabitants, w ...

Heilongjiang Heilongjiang is a province in northeast China. It is the northernmost and easternmost province of the country and contains China's northernmost point (in Mohe City along the Amur) and easternmost point (at the confluence of the Amur and Us ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

.} The village is about southwest of the administrative center of Fuyu, and about west of the main road from Qiqihar.

Overview

Approximately 80 elderly residents of the village are considered to be among the last people who have a good grasp of the historic pronunciation of

. A local elementary school employs Manchu language teachers who learned the language from some of the older residents. Over 70% of the residents are ethnic Manchu. Dong Xuefeng, an official with Youyi Township, said that Sanjiazi is the only village in China in which the Manchu language is spoken and the Manchu customs are observed because of its relative isolation.

Manchu language spoken elsewhere

In 2019,

Colin Thubron Colin Gerald Dryden Thubron (born 14 June 1939) is a British travel writer and novelist. In 2008, ''The Times'' ranked him among the 50 greatest postwar British writers. He is a contributor to ''The New York Review of Books'', ''The Times'', '' ...

found one man alone in Dawujia(zi) in Aihui District of

Heihe Heihe (; ; Russian language, Russian: Хэйхэ) is a prefecture-level city of northern Heilongjiang province, China, located on the Sino-Russian border, Russian border, on the south bank of the Amur River, Amur (Heilong) River, across the r ...

Prefecture who said he could still speak the language.

Education

Sanjiazi Manchu Elementary School is located in the community. It includes Manchu classes and has tapes of Manchu speakers.

References

Manchu language Qiqihar Villages in China {{Heilongjiang-geo-stub