Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portuguese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Español | Tagalog / Filipino
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The Laowu of China

The Laowu of China, numbering approximately 11,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Southern Yi people of Jinping County in southern Yunnan who maintain a distinct Laowu identity within the wider Yi nationality and appear to represent a remnant of a once more widely distributed regional population. 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: Laowu

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: 11,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022183
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Pray for the Laowu 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

97%
%
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.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Eastern Nisu:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Eastern Nisu 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 Laowu:
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 Laowu of China

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
readIsaiah 49:13

Thank the Lord for the people here and ask that His gospel will flow through this land to bring hope to those who are afflicted by the guilt of sin.

He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
readIsaiah 40:11

Pray that the lost will come to know the tender care of the Good Shepherd, who gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart.

Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.
readExodus 4:12

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will equip them with the words and wisdom to proclaim His message effectively.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
readJohn 1:9-10

Pray for those God might send to share the gospel here. Ask that they will grow closer to Jesus and be compelled to share His good news with people who don't know it.

Laowu Across Countries (ROP3 - 114157) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▲CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
LaowuPG022183LaowuChina11,000Unengaged and UnreachedEastern NisuChinese 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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