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The Diao of China

The Diao of China, numbering approximately 2,700 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an indigenous community of southeastern Guizhou, officially classified within the Dong nationality since 1985 but continuing to maintain a distinct Diao identity. They mostly adhere to Chinese Folk Religion and Mandarin Chinese is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Diao

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Chinese
Primary Language(s): Mandarin Chinese (cmn)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 2,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022157
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Pray for the Diao of China

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Chinese Folk Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

95%
%
Chinese Folk Religion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mandarin Chinese
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Chinese, Mandarin Speakers

Media Resources in Mandarin Chinese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

5 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mandarin Chinese:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Revised Chinese Union Bible Shen Edition✓✓
Union Version✓✓
Union Version✓✓
Tianjing (Huizuban Shengjing)✓✓✓

4 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mandarin Chinese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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 Diao:
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

Pray specifically for the Diao of China

But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
readPsalm 130:4

Pray that God will bring those who have hard hearts to repentance and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
read2 Timothy 4:3-4

Pray that the lost will be open to the truth of the gospel and turn from false teachings and myths to the sound doctrine of Christ in faith.

For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
read1 Peter 2:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will proclaim the good news and the lost will recognize their need for the Shepherd and turn to Jesus Christ in faith.

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ...that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
readColossians 4:3-4

Ask God to open doors for believers to share the gospel and help them communicate it clearly so that more people will understand the mystery of Christ and turn to follow Him.

Diao Across Countries (ROP3 - 114040) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
DiaoPG022157DiaoChina2,700Unengaged and UnreachedMandarin ChineseChinese Folk Religion

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

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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