Wu ( 吴语 ) is one of the major divisions of the Chinese language; linguistically, it is better classified as a Sinitic language. It is spoken in most of Zhejiang ( 浙江 ) province, the municipality of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu ( 江苏 ) province, as well as smaller parts of Anhui, Jiangxi, and Fujian provinces. Major Wu dialects include those of Shanghai, Suzhou ( 苏州 ), Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Yongkang and Shaoxing. As of 1991, there are 87 million speakers of Wu Chinese, making it the second largest form of Chinese after Mandarin Chinese.

Among speakers of other Chinese varieties, Wu is often subjectively judged to be soft, light, and flowing. There is even a special term used to describe the quality of Wu speech ( 吴侬软语 ). The actual source of this impression is harder to place. It is likely a combination of many factors. Among speakers of Wu, for example, Shanghainese is considered softer and mellower than the variant spoken in Ningbo.

The modern Wu language can be traced back to the ancient Yue peoples centred around southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang. The Northern Wu dialects are not mutually intelligible with the Southern Wu dialects. Wu is divided into six dialect areas:

• Taihu ( 太湖 ), spoken over much of southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang, including Shanghai, Suzhou, Changzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shaoxing, etc.
• Taizhou ( 台州 ), spoken in and around Taizhou, Zhejiang
• Oujiang ( 瓯江 ), spoken in and around Wenzhou, Zhejiang
• Wuzhou ( 婺州 ), spoken in and around Jinhua, Zhejiang
• Chu Qu ( 处衢 ), spoken in and around Lishui and Quzhou, Zhejiang
• Xuanzhou ( 宣州 ), spoken in and around Xuancheng, Anhui