The Yao People are to be found in China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. In Thailand there are approximately 55,000 Yao in widely scattered villages in the provinces of Phayao, Nan and Chiang Rai, and perhaps another 10,000 or so refugees from Laos, living in refugee camps along the border.

The Yao originate in southern China, and are the only Hilltribe to have a written language. The Yao (Mien) prefer to live among low hills near dense forest. Their houses also sit on the ground, and feature a space designed for a cooking fire in the center of their main room, as well as a small shrine dedicated to their ancestors and to the guardian spirit they believe to inhabit each individual house.
Their language, long ago derived from Chinese, is written in Chinese Characters, and their paintings, mostly of religious subjects, reflect certain very ancient Chinese artistic styles, although the Yao paintings have a unique flavour of their own, and are coveted by many Western collectors.
The Yao are the "businessmen" among the Hilltribes, and they also excel in the making of metal farm implements such as axes and ploughs. Because they've long had a written language --unlike several of the other tribes, who had no written version of their language prior to the coming into their midst of Christian missionaries -- they also know how to make high quality paper.
Houses built usually of wooden planks on a dirt road. There is a guest platform of bamboo in the communal living area. Their economy for several generations has been based quite largely on the cultivation and marketing of opium, although opium addiction is relatively rare among them. With the present drive to stamp out the cultivation of the opium poppy in Thailand, the Yao find it necessary to seek other means of livelihood. Yao women are noted for their magnificent cross-stitch embroidery, which richly decorates the clothing of every member of the family. The costume of the women is very distinctive, with a long black jacket with lapels of bright scarlet wool. Loose trousers in intricate designs are worn and a similarly embroidered black turban. Yao silversmiths produce lovely silver jewellery of high quality.
The Yao have a written religion based on medieval Chinese Taoism, although in recent years there have been many converts to Christianity and Buddhism. They are a very peaceful and friendly people, who pride themselves on cleanliness and honour and they are called the "businessmen" among the Hilltribes