The previous chapter discussed the topic of who launched the National Ethnic Classification Project （NECP） and when it happened. This chapter starts with why and how the NECP was carried out，how Chinese fieldworkers reflected on it and how Western anthropologists responded to it. I maintain that it is impossible to ignore the NECP when we look at any minzu in China，because current notions of being minzu，are defined in the terms set during the NECP. But being minzu did not start there，nor did it end there. Following the trail opened up by a few anthropologists （e.g. Harrell，Schein，Blum and Gladney），this chapter intends to explore what the state-defined minzu categories mean to different stakeholders and how to understand the Bai （Baizu）. I argue that those designated as Bai have injected a strong and continuous breath of life into the externally defined minzu category，and made it meaningful both to themselves and to outsiders.