The Azong of China

The Azong of China, numbering approximately 1,700 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an indigenous Yi subgroup of Jiangcheng County in southern Yunnan, maintaining a distinct Azong identity among several neighboring Yi communities They are an Indigenous people, with Azong 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 Eastern Nisu is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Eastern Nisu (nos)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 1,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022152
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Azong 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: Eastern Nisu
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

70%
%
Nisu, Eastern Speakers

Media Resources in Eastern Nisu:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Eastern Nisu:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Eastern Nisu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Azong 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 Azong:
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 Azong of China

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
readProverbs 8:17

As many search for hope, pray they will discover materials that will lead them to Jesus and explain the gospel in a way they will resonate with.

Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, "the kingdom of God has come near to you."
readLuke 10:8-9

Pray that the lost will receive messengers of the gospel with joy, turn from their sins, and be healed.

Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
readPsalm 34:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will see themselves as God sees them, with radiant faces and hearts that have been cleansed of all shame.

And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
readLuke 10:2

Ask God to send out laborers into His harvest field, raising up believers from around the world to go and proclaim the kingdom of God with those who need to hear it.

Azong Across Countries (ROP3 - 114002) 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.

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.

Scroll to Top