Here in NYC I always came across Cantonese speakers, two of my closest friends in jr and high school were Cantonese speaking Chinese. In fact I always assumed Cantonese was the language of the Chinese in general because of the large number of Cantonese speakers I had come across and only learned later that it is actually a really small group compared to Mandarin speakers.
I agree, and I believe that Canton Heartland of China is the best representation of Chinese culture. The Cantonese language is the most beautiful dialects in China, in my personal opinion. The Cantonese are aggressive, hard working, and very industrious people.