People Group Profiles

“All nations will come and worship before you."

- Revelations 15:4

Chinese, Shanghainese Wu of North America


People Group Info

Total Population: 7,725

ROP3 Code: 102143
IMB Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Affinity Bloc: East Asian Peoples
People Cluster: Chinese
Language: Wu Chinese - (wuu)
Religion: Non-Religious
Country of Origin: China

Photo courtesy of Joshua Project.
Copyright © Operation China, Paul Hattaway

Majority Located Where

  New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY - 2,600

  Toronto (Mississauga, Brampton), ON - 1,900

  Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA - 1,800

  Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX - 100

Click here to recommend other locations where this People Group resides.

Learn More

Brief Profile

The Chinese Shanghainese Wu people are a group of linguistically similar and historically related varieties of Chinese speakers primarily spoken in Zhejiang province, the municipality of Shanghai, and southern Jiangsu province. The Wu language has the largest vowel quality inventories in the world. For instance, the Wu spoken in Shanghai has 20 vowel qualities, the most among all world languages.

Shanghainese Wu people have immigrated to North America since the 1990s, many as international students, and then later more as permanent residents. When in North America, they often speak Mandarin Chinese with other Chinese peoples. The Wu Chinese dialect is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin Chinese.

They often claim no religion. The majority are atheist, highly educated, requiring a different gospel presentation approach from those who are Buddhist, who worship many gods.

Prayer Points

  • Pray that God would send Shanghainese speakers of the gospel to share the gospel with Shanghainese Wu people in their mother tongue.
  • Pray that evangelicals would become friends with Shanghainese people in order to reveal the gospel both in word and deed.


Learning Resources

Learn more about "Learning Paths"
Online Courses for embracing, encountering and engaging diaspora people. Work at your own pace. Begin anytime and complete the course according to your schedule. Interactive, Hands-On Application.

Learn more about "Reaching the Nations"
This book delineates five disciplines Christians should develop in order to effectively reach the nations. More specifically, it will guide Christians to develop an engagement strategy in their locale.

World Religions - Beliefs Overview
An overview of major world religions and cults - their beliefs and practices.


Other Resources

Prayer Guide for Unreached Peoples
A 30 day guide to pray for unreached people groups.

Prayer Guide using the GOSPELS acronym
A prayer guide that utilizes the acronym GOSPELS to pray for workers among diaspora.

Displaying 1-4 of 4 results.
Country City Metro Area Name State / Prov. Baseline Population
United StatesBrooklynNew York-Newark-Jersey CityNY2,600
United StatesTorontoToronto (Mississauga, Brampton)ON1,900
United StatesLALos Angeles-Long Beach-AnaheimCA1,800
United StatesRichardsonDallas-Fort Worth-ArlingtonTX100