 Among Asian Americans, Taishanese are influential in politics and were the first Americans of Asian descent to be elected as governors, mayors, and U.S congressmen.The Taishanese were the first Chinese people to settle in America and the Taishanese language was the lingua franca of Chinatowns but this was replaced with Cantonese after being overwhelmed by immigration from Guangzhou and its satellite cities.Taishanese American laundrymen and shopkeepers were a primary source of funding that helped launch Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's revolutionary activities while he was in exile and raising money from overseas countrymen.