Mainland Chinese
Mainland Chinese or Mainlanders are Chinese people who live in a region considered a "mainland". It is frequently used in the context of areas ruled by the People's Republic of China, referring to people from mainland China as opposed to other areas controlled by the state such as Hong Kong or Macau.
Mainlanders in Taiwan
The word mainlander can refer to two different groups:
Waisheng ren (Chinese: 外省人; pinyin: wàishěng rén; literally: "extraprovincial person") are people who moved to Taiwan from mainland China after 1945 until the late 40's and early 50's. This group also includes all of their descendants born in Taiwan.
Dalu ren (Chinese: 大陸人; pinyin: dàlù rén; literally: "mainland people") are residents of mainland China, especially citizens of the People's Republic of China who live in mainland China.
In the context of demographics of Taiwan, the term mainlander when applied to a Taiwan resident most likely refers to waisheng ren.
Names
The translations of waishengren (外省人 wài shěng rén) and benshengren (本省人 běn shěng rén) into English poses some interesting difficulties. The usual English translation of waishengren is Mainlander, although many waishengren find this translation uncomfortable since it implies that waishengren are residents of mainland China, when they are all residents of Taiwan. Benshengren, which literally translates to "this province's person" and is sometimes translated as "native Taiwanese", refers to the people native to Taiwan before the Republic of China took over rule of Taiwan in 1945 and the mass exodus of mainlanders following the Chinese Civil War. Most academic literature uses the terms waishengren and benshengren directly. The terms rarely come up in the English-speaking media.
