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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Cha Shan Yao of China

The Cha Shan Yao of China, numbering approximately 64,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a distinct subgroup historically classified within the Yao nationality of China, but ethnically and linguistically they are the Lakkia (or Lakkja) people. They mostly adhere to Animism and Lakkia is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Cha Shan Yao

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Yao-Mien
Primary Language(s): Lakkia (lbc)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 64,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006708
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Pray for the Cha Shan Yao 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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

100%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lakkia
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

100%
%
Lakkia Speakers

Media Resources in Lakkia:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lakkia:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lakkia bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Cha Shan Yao 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 Cha Shan Yao:
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 Cha Shan Yao of China

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRom 6:23

Pray that those who haven't heard yet will hear and believe that the wages of their sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
readRomans 2:4

Pray that, in God's kindness and according to His nature, He will lead many to repentance.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
readPsalm 119:105

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will meditate daily on the Word of God so that, through it, they might have wisdom for the big and small decisions they face every day.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Lakkia Across Countries (ROP3 - 114150) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Cha Shan YaoPG006708Cha Shan YaoChina64,500Engaged yet UnreachedLakkiaAnimism

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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