"She had to speak the kind of Mandarin heard in government circles in Beijing."
There is only one flavor of Mandarin chinese. Also, they blew it scheduling a trip to Shanghai to learn about the culture. First, Shanghai is probably the most cosmopolitan city in China, and while it will be the economic hub of China, it hardly represents the culture. Second, the Shanghainese dialect is the standard language in Shanghai, not Mandarin, so while some Shanghainese will be able to understand the little darling, not all will (my mother-in-law only speaks Shanghainese, and my FIL is only marginally conversant in Mandarin). That being said, my chinese wife and I will be teaching our daughter (5 mos.) Mandarin and Shanghainese in addition to English Texas-style (no Spanish, though).
Same case for Hong Kong. Chinese culture is quite different in different parts of China even if they are all Han Chinese. I, as originally from Hong Kong, didn't understand much of the thinking of Chinese from Henan or even Shanghai. Most Hong Kong Chinese can't distinguish difference between Sichuan and Cantonese mainland Chinese either.
does that includes the well-known "Texas Drawl"?...Howdee Ma'am...just asking. :^)
Depends...kind of like there is only one flavor of English? Eh Chap? Jolly good.
Hate to be disagreeable, but there is a lot more than one flavor to Mandarin.
There are more variations than one can imagine...