The Pengzi of China

The Pengzi of China, numbering approximately 350 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an indigenous Yi subgroup of western Yunnan, maintaining a distinct Pengzi identity in the mountainous Wumulong area of Yongde County near the Myanmar border They are an Indigenous people, with Pengzi as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Other Tibeto-Burmese people cluster of the Tibetan Peoples. They mostly adhere to Chinese Folk Religion and Xishanba Lalo is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Xishanba Lalo (ywt)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 350
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022102
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Pray for the Pengzi 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Chinese Folk Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

95%
%
Chinese Folk Religion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Xishanba Lalo
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

75%
%
Lalo, Central Speakers

Media Resources in Xishanba Lalo:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Xishanba Lalo:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Xishanba Lalo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Pengzi 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 Pengzi:
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

Pray specifically for the Pengzi of China

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that those who haven't heard will hear the Word of Christ and believe in Him, calling upon the name of the Lord to be saved.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
readLamentations 3:23-23

Pray that they will have hope in the Lord, knowing that His compassions never fails and that His mercies are new every morning.

And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
readDeuteronomy 6:6-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will hide God's Word in their hearts, let it shape their conversations and daily lives, and pass on their faith to the next generation.

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.

Pengzi Across Countries (ROP3 - 114274) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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

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