Based on questionnaire data collected from 1120 respondents of the new generation of Indonesian Chinese across 12 administrative regions between 2022 and 2023, this study reveals a U-shaped trend in Huayu proficiency across three generations: grandparents, parents and children. The child generation demonstrates higher Huayu proficiency than the parent generation. In contrast, Chinese dialect proficiency shows a continuous decline: while grandparents and parents generally possess stronger dialect skills, there is a significant drop among the younger generation, indicating an unfavorable outlook for intergenerational dialect transmission. Regression analysis shows that Chinese dialect proficiency has a significantly positive effect on Huayu inheritance among the new generation of Indonesian Chinese, and this impact remains statistically significant after controlling for individual, family and other variables. The survey also finds that the family serves as the primary venue for young Indonesian Chinese to acquire dialects, with ages 0 to 3 as a critical period of dialect acquisition. Sustained family language planning and consistent parental use of dialects are essential to maintaining families as the last bastion for Chinese dialects, thereby supporting Huayu inheritance among young ethnic Chinese. It is important to recognize the role of Chinese dialects in facilitating Huayu transmission among the new generation of Indonesian Chinese, capitalize on their critical period for dialect acquisition, engage multiple stakeholders to reinforce the dialects’ contribution to Huayu retention, and increase the supply of Chinese dialect cultural products to diversify access to linguistic resources.