Bouyei People

The Bouyei (also spelled Puyi, Buyei and Buyi; self called: Buxqyaix, [puʔjai] or “Puzhong”, “Burao”, “Puman”; Chinese: 布依族; pinyin: Bùyīzú; Vietnamese: người Bố Y), otherwise known as the Zhongjia, are an ethnic group living in Southern Mainland China. Numbering 2.5 million, they are the 11th largest of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People’s Republic of China. Despite the Chinese considering them a separate group, they consider themselves Zhuang (Tai peoples).

The Bouyei mostly live in Qianxinan and Qiannan prefectures of Southern Guizhou Province, as well as in Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces.

Some 3,000 Bouyei also live in Northern Vietnam, where they are one of that nation’s 54 officially recognized ethnic groups. In Vietnam, they are known as the Giay people and mostly live in Mường Khương District of Lào Cai and Quản Bạ District of Hà Giang Province.