Yao Ethnic Minority

At present, there are about 2.6 million ethnic Yao people living in Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces. Long ago, there were about 20 Yao subgroups (and many of them still exist as separate ethnic groupings). Each of these groups had different customs and lifestyles.

Although they each have their own languages, they have also adopted many local dialects. Others can even speak the Miao and Zhuang languages. In addition, Yao people only use Chinese characters for their written language. They do not have their own phonetic writing system. Fortunately, many Yao people these days are able to understand Mandarin.

Most Yao people survive by farming. They mostly live in small groups scattered throughout the mountains. There are a lot of them in Longsheng.