The Yao are similar in appearance to the Chinese and love to be clean. Their settlements are on mountain slopes, suitable for cultivation. They do not like to live on high mountains because they are afraid of storms. Originally, the ethnic group had its own script, but not like the Chinese orthography they use today. However, they have their own spoken language with lexical items similar to those of the Hmong. The ethnic group grows both plain and glutinous rice and they are keener on cultivating opium than other ethnic groups, because they know how to select appropriate land. Opium was thus an important product of this ethnic group. When the government suppressed opium cultivation and opium smoking, the group turned to growing tea, which could generate a good income. The Yao used horses as important beasts of burden. The ethnic group use chopsticks like the Chinese and serve hot tea to guests. The group has a long history and legends and young men sing to court young women from other villages. Virginity is not a big deal for young women and traditions dictate that single women with children are dearer than those without children. Bastards are regarded as “children of ghosts”. Yao men spend a great amount of money paying for their brides. Sometimes, they have to make loans with hefty interest rates and force their wives to work hard like slaves in order to pay back the loans. So Yao men have an easy life because their wives work for them. Furthermore, they save money to marry new wives to satisfy their sexual urges. Moreover, pregnant women have to work hard like slaves or animals that men have bought for working. A village has a spiritual leader called “Sip Mien Mien”, who conducts animistic rituals. Some of the rituals include the harvest ritual, the grave ritual, and others.