The Miaos, with a population of 7,398,035, are mainly distributed in Guizhou, Hunan, Yunnan provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

On the flatland of the warm and rainy Miaoling and Wuling mountains, the Miaos grow rice, maize, wheat, cotton, tobacco, millet, rape, and tung trees. The mountain areas where the Miaos make their homes also have abundant timber and mineral resources.

The present Miao people can be traced back to the primitive Chi You Tribe living in the Central Plains several thousand years ago. In the Shang and Zhou periods, forefathers of the Miaos established the Three- Miaos State in the middle and lower reaches of the Changjiang River planting rice for food. For some reasons, these people had moved for several times. The migrating route was approximately from the Yellow River Valley, to Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan.

The Miao language belongs to the Miao-Yao group in the Sino-Tibetan family. Formerly, the Miao people had no script. Later, in the 1950s, a Romanization system for the Miao language was created. At present most Miao people use Chinese.

The Miao songs and dances have a long history. The complicated Reed Pipe Dance Ls very popular. Their cross-stitch work, embroidery, batiks, brocades and ornaments are exquisite folk arts and enjoy high fame. The Miaos have many festivals. The most important are the New Year's Day of the Miaos, the Eighth Day of the Fifth Month of lunar year, and the Dragon-boat Festival.