Hakka in China and the Hakka Dialect

[Lee <clem2@idt.net>]

I have read most of the articles and discussions posted on the Hakka Web 
Site and Forum, and have learned a lot about our origin, but have come 
across very little information about the Hakkas in Mainland China today. 
Since I am an overseas Hakka and have not been to China, I would like to 
know, in what parts of China are there still sizable numbers of Hakkas 
living together and actually speaking the Hakka dialect. If we originated 
from the north or central north, aren't there still survivors living in 
those areas? Did they all pack up and leave?

I have met and spoken to Hakkas from Taiwan, H.K., Indonesia, Malaysia, 
Thailand, Singapore, Mauritius, Jamaica, India, Tahiti, Cuba, Canada and 
the United States. If we put all of us together in a room and try to hold 
a discussion in Hakka, we will find it most difficult to understand one 
another. It seems like the Hakka dialect has many variations in 
pronunciation. For instance, the pronunciation of "good" in Hakka by some 
is "ho' and others "hao". Is there an official Hakka pronunciation? I was 
told by my "Moi Yan" relatives that the Hakkas in Moi Yan spoke the true 
Hakka dialect. Are they bias? Please enlighten me, anyone?