The Sanjiang Baheng of China

The Sanjiang Baheng of China, numbering approximately 68,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a distinct ethnolinguistic people in southwest China who are officially classified as Yao (瑶族) but are culturally and linguistically separate from most other Yao groups. They are an Indigenous people in the Yao-Mien people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Pa-Hng and their primary religion is Chinese Folk Religion.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Sanjiang Baheng

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Yao-Mien
Primary Language(s): Pa-Hng (pha)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 68,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006674
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Pray for the Sanjiang Baheng of China

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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: Pa-Hng
Language Family: Hmong-Mien

70%
%
Pa-Hng Speakers

Media Resources in Pa-Hng:

Films:

No entries found for: Pa-Hng(pha). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Pa-Hng:

Or check out the Pa-Hng bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), 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 Active 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 Sanjiang Baheng:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Sanjiang Baheng 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 Sanjiang Baheng:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Sanjiang Baheng are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Sanjiang Baheng:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Sanjiang Baheng of China

Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life"
readJohn 4:13-14

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will drink of the living water that only Christ can provide and never thirst again.

Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.
readMatthew 13:8-9

Pray that they will have open hearts and minds to the Word of God, and that it will take root in their lives and bear fruit for His glory.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
readIsaiah 9:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice in the coming of the Prince of Peace because He will bring everlasting peace and rule with justice and righteousness.

Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"
readIsaiah 40:9

Pray for God to send and sustain believers to go and herald the good news to the lost here.

Baheng, Pa-Hng Across Countries (ROP3 - 114839) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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