The Sanjiang Baheng of China

The Sanjiang Baheng of China, numbering approximately 68,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a distinct ethnolinguistic people in southwest China who are officially classified as Yao (瑶族) but are culturally and linguistically separate from most other Yao groups. They are an Indigenous people in the Yao-Mien people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Pa-Hng and their primary religion is Chinese Folk Religion.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Sanjiang Baheng

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Yao-Mien
Primary Language(s): Pa-Hng (pha)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 68,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006674
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Pray for the Sanjiang Baheng of China

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Chinese Folk Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

97%
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pa-Hng
Language Family: Hmong-Mien

70%
%

Media Resources in Pa-Hng:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Pa-Hng:

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Or check out the Pa-Hng bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Sanjiang Baheng:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Sanjiang Baheng are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Sanjiang Baheng:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Sanjiang Baheng are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Sanjiang Baheng:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Sanjiang Baheng of China

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.
readJohn 3:19

Pray that God will have mercy on those who love the darkness they are walking in and turn from their sin to faith in Christ.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
readPsalm 16:11

Pray that God will make a way for His path of life to be revealed to many so that they may come into His presence and experience abundant joy and eternal pleasures at His right hand.

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
read2 Corinthians 12:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will embrace their weaknesses, hardships, and difficulties, having hope because Christ's power is made perfect in their weakness.

He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
readJohn 1:7

Pray that God will raise up witnesses to testify about Jesus so that all might believe, knowing that He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.

Baheng, Pa-Hng Across Countries (ROP3 - 114839) reported in the following countries:

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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