Ngai people are originally from Guangxi, China, and some of them migrated south into Vietnam. Ngai people have never considered themselves Hakka. Because no one, including Chinese people, knows how to categorize the Ngai people, they were simply categorized as Hakka. However, the Hakka language is not similar to the Ngai language.

A few Ngai people live in Canada, Australia and the United States. In the U.S. you can find most Ngai people settled in Sacramento and Los Angeles County. In Vietnam, most Ngai people live in Dong Nai Province and Saigon and a few of them live elsewhere in Vietnam.

Most Ngai people are farmers. They also make their living through fishing, including crabs, shellfish and turtles. They celebrate lunar New Year and moon day festivals. During the holiday they have a lion dance and a dragon dance, eat moon cakes and light firecrackers.

Their religion is ancestor worship. They also worship Tin Hau, a goddess to fishermen. They venerate spirits from the sea, including a mythical dragon.

Some information from "The Peoples of Vietnam" by Asian Minorities Outreach, 1998.