About 15,000 of 50,000 Lama speak this variety of Bai.

Classified partly in Bai and partly in Lisu nationality; about 15,000 still speak a distinct language closely related to Bai, known as Lama in Lanping and Laemae (in Chinese, Lemei) in Luobenzhuo; others have assimilated and are simply a local clan within the Lisu in other areas, and speak only Lisu. Group population, including that submerged in the Lisu, is about 50,000; but people who identify as members of this group are far fewer, and speakers number only about 15,000, including most children in the core area of Luobenzhuo.