Yao still hunt and farm though many live in poverty. Yao enjoy these items. Yao dress is colorful, unique and distinct among China's peoples. Women's tastes vary more. Items are embroidered using blue, black or white cloth with silk thread and have images of animals, plants, the heavenly bodies and other objects.
Women learn the art of embroidery at six or seven and continue embroidering well into old age.
Yao boys must pass trials in order to enter manhood. After completion of the trials, the priest pronounces the boy a man and prays for him. The boy then replaces his embroidered hat with a turban. After this he may marry and raise a family. Yao practice traditional medicine and have established the Daqing Dekun Hospital of Traditional Yao Medicine in Heilongjiang Province.