The population is about 2.87 million. The majority live in Qiannan Bouyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture and Qianxinan Bouyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Guizhou Province. They are also distributed in Luoping of Yunnan Province, Ningnan and Huili of Sichuan Province, and other places in Guizhou Province. The Bouyei language has three dialects. It belongs to the Zhuang-Dai branch of the Zhuang-Dong languages of the Sino-Tibetan language family with a close relationship with the Zhuang language. In the past, the Bouyei did not have their own scripts but used Chinese characters. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, a writing system of the Bouyei language was devised based on Latin alphabets. The Bouyei people are farmers with a long history of growing rice. They are skilful at handicrafts and have long history of making batik fabrics, which are renowned for the delicate patterns not only in China but also overseas. Most Bouyei people believe in primitive religions, but some have Catholic or Christian beliefs. In addition to traditional festivals like the “Spring Festival”, the “Dragon Boat Festival” and the “Mid-Autumn Festival”, they celebrate “the 8th day of the fourth lunar month” and “the 6th day of the sixth lunar month”. The former is also called the “Ox King Festival”, during which steamed glutinous rice is used to worship ancestors and feed cattle, and cattle are allowed to take a day off from farming. “The 6th day of the sixth lunar month” is an important festival only less significant than the “Spring Festival”. Named “gengjiang” in the Bouyei language, the festival is associated with many myths and legends.