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The Western Gaisu of China

The Western Gaisu of China, numbering approximately 1,600 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an indigenous Yi subgroup of northeastern Yongde County in western Yunnan, also known as Luoren, whose nearly extinct Western Gaisu language has largely given way to Mandarin. 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: Gaisu, Western

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Mandarin Chinese (cmn)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 1,600
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022164
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Pray for the Western Gaisu 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Chinese Folk Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

85%
%
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 Western Gaisu:
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 Western Gaisu of China

But he said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:27

Praise God that He is the God of impossible things and that He is able to save even those who seem beyond hope.

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
readZechariah 2:11

Pray that many will take refuge in the Lord and be His people who share the good news of salvation in Jesus with others.

Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
readPsalm 6:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and still struggle with the worries of this life, God will deliver them from worry for the sake of His steadfast love.

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
readActs 13:47

Pray that as people come to faith, they will follow the Lord's leading to go to their neighbors and share the treasure they found in Christ.

Gaisu, Western Across Countries (ROP3 - 114058) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Western GaisuPG022164Western GaisuChina1,600Unengaged 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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