Dongyin has four naturally formed villages: Nanau village, Beiau village, Lion village, and Sanjiachun in Siyin. "Nanau Village" is the most populated and boisterous of the villages. The main source of income for the residents is from store and shop businesses. The islander's ancestors mostly immigrated from Changle, Fujian. Among the last names of the one thousand inhabitants, Lin is the most popular last name, followed by Chen and Liu.

Most of the residents speak the Fuzhou dialect, but in recent years, with the strong influence of Taiwanese culture, most residents can speak Taiwanese as well.

The island only has one school and is a combined institution for kindergarten, elementary school, and junior high school. Including all the faculty and students, there are only a hundred or so people in this miniature school.

The islanders lead a simple lifestyle and are devout believers of the local folk religion—the Gods of the White Horse Temple—a faith that originated from Fujian almost 300 years ago. Every year during the Lunar Calendar's Lantern Festival, believers will greet the Gods of the White Horse Temple all around the island. This is a truly joyful and festive time of the year when even those who left the island either for work or school would come back to pray to the gods—livening up the usually peaceful and quiet island.