I registered on this site just to reply to this post.
I am Shezu by blood. Shezu is related to the Mien branch of the Hmong-Mien family (or, in Pinyin, the Yao branch of the Miao-Yao family).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_peoplehttp://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/nationality/she/Because of my blood origin, I've always been curious about the Hmong people.
Amongst the She, Mien, and Hmong people, the Hmong people are probably the least sinicised. The She people, on the other hand, are thoroughly sinicised. Only about 1000 She people speak Ho Ne (or Huonie in Pinyin). Everyone else (around 700,000) speak Chinese.
The traditional religion of the She people, like the Yao people, is based on Daoism and shamanism. The most distinctive aspect of She culture is the elaborate traditional headresses She women used to wear.
In my family, there's little left of She culture. Our last name point to our She origin, and we know that we have She blood. Other than that, we're basically Han Chinese. In fact, my family had produced several generations of prominent Chinese nationalists. (I know of several other She families which had produced Chinese nationalists.)
Another thing, I never eat dog meat. The She ancestor, Pan Hu, was a dog, and so eating dogs is forbidden.
Personally, I identify with Zhonghua, the Chinese cultural ideal. I am satisfied that Teochiu culture and Hakka culture both have strong She components. I'm also satisfied that these days Chiyou, along with both Yandi and Huangdi, is considered an ancestor of Zhonghua.
I consider myself Chinese. I'm non-Han, I'm of She ancestry, but I'm Chinese. When westerners ask me what I am, I always say Chinese. When other Chinese people ask me where I'm from, then I tell them that I'm She by ancestry.
This is just a personal perspective. I understand why many Hmong people outside of China don't consider themselves Chinese.