The area also has a large diaspora population in Europe and the United States, with a reputation for being enterprising natives who start restaurants, retail and wholesale businesses in their adopted countries.

However, geographic isolation and an admixture of Southern Min Chinese speakers from nearby Fujian Province, have caused Wenzhou's spoken language to evolve into a dialect that is notable for its highly divergent phonology.

[9][10] Due to its high degree of eccentricity and difficulty for non-locals to understand,[clarification needed][citation needed] the language is reputed to have been used during the Second Sino-Japanese War during wartime communication as code talkers and in Sino-Vietnamese War for programming military code.

[13][full citation needed] Wenzhou was home to the Yongjia School of thought, which emphasized pragmatism and commerce.

[16][17][18] In the early days of economic reforms, local Wenzhounese took the lead in China in developing a commodity economy, household industries and specialized markets.

In major cities such as Beijing or Shanghai there are "Zhejiang villages", enclaves where people from Wenzhou reside and do business.

[4] Wenzhou people in the United States are mostly concentrated on the East Coast, particularly around the New York City metropolitan area.

Japan was the destination for many Wenzhounese migrants in the beginning of the 20th century, however many of them returned following the rise of anti-foreign sentiment and ultimately the outbreak of the second Sino-Japanese War.