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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Tai Lu of China

The Tai Lu of China, numbering approximately 596,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic group of China, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and Vietnam. They mostly adhere to Mahayana Buddhism and Lü is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Tai
Primary Language(s): Lü (khb)
Primary Religion(s): Mahayana Buddhism
Population: 596,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007394
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Pray for the Tai Lu 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: Mahayana Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

99%
%
Mahayana Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lü
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

100%
%
Lü Speakers

Media Resources in Lü:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lü:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lü 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): Pioneer Unreached People Group, (LPI: 1), 0.1% or Greater but Less than 0.5% 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 Tai Lu:
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 Tai Lu of China

But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven"
readMatthew 9:14

Pray that those who are spiritually dead will recognize their need for spiritual nourishment and turn to the One who offers true fulfillment.

There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
readPsalm 19:3

Pray that God will lead them to His Word, and where it is not available, ask that He will raise up those who will produce gospel media in their heart language.

And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
readActs 16:15

Pray that God will bring entire families and households to faith in Him and raise up servant-leaders from among them.

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
readJeremiah 29:7

Pray that God will lead the lost among them to followers of Jesus who will share the gospel with them so that they may believe and take the message of hope to their families and friends.

Tai Lu Across Countries (ROP3 - 114183) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

6 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
Tai LuPG007394Tai LuChina596,000Unengaged and UnreachedLüMahayana Buddhism
Tai LuPG022384Tai LuThailand95,000Engaged yet UnreachedLüMahayana Buddhism
Tai LuPG009145Tai LuLaos208,000Engaged yet UnreachedLüEthnoreligion
Tai LuPG011178Tai LuVietnam5,600Engaged yet UnreachedLüEthnoreligion
Tai LuPG043330Tai LuUnited States5,200Unengaged and UnreachedLüEthnoreligion
Tai LuPG009471Tai LuMyanmar327,000Engaged yet UnreachedLüAnimism

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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