Originally Posted by DakarM

no they don't speak a different dialect. they both speak mandarin.

there is also cantonese which is mainly only spoken in HK, there is also probably 100 different variations of spoken chinese language depending on the village you're in.

As for written there is only 2, technically 3 if you count ancient chinese (which is not used anymore). 1 is simplified which is used in mainland china. The other is traditional which is used in HK and Taiwan.

I can see why you might be confused here. You can take the same written word but depending on the dialect it can be pronouced completely differently.

So to recap, spoke very different with 100s of different dialects. Written only 2, traditional and simplified.