Shanghainese people in Hong Kong have played an important role in the region since 1949. "Shanghainese" is a term that refers to not only the Wu Chinese language and the Han Chinese subgroups from the city of Shanghai and also of the peoples of the Jiangnan (Lower Yangtze Delta) region in Hong Kong more broadly, particularly those with ancestral homes in parts of southern Jiangsu (Kiangsu), northern Zhejiang (Chekiang) and Anhui province. While a relatively small portion of the population compared to the Cantonese majority, Shanghainese people and their descendants have had a tremendous influence on the economy of Hong Kong helping transform the colony from a trading outpost into a global manufacturing and shipping hub. Shanghainese émigrés also had a major contribution to the cinema of Ho