The 2.6 million Yao live in Guangxi, Hunan, Yunnan, Guangdong, Jiangxi and Hainan provinces.

They call themselves the Miao, Jinmen, Bunu, Lajia or Bingduoyou. The origins of the Yao are disputed, but most believe that they are related to the Jingman and Wulingman peoples from Changsha, called the Muyao and Mango tribes respectively in ancient times.

The Yao language belongs to the Hmong-Mien (or Miao-Yao) language family. As the Yao are rather dispersed, their language has several distinct dialects with major differences and people from different areas sometimes use Mandarin or Zhuang to communicate. A writing system was developed for the Yao language in 1984.

Many Yao continue to practice their traditional religion, based on medieval Taoism, but significant numbers are also Buddhist or Christian.

The Yao grow paddy rice and maize as their main crops, as well as cultivating several types of wood, including Chinese fir, bamboo and oil-tea camellia .

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