With a population of about 30,000 and primarily engaging in agricultural production, the Nu minority is one of Yunnan's indigenous ethnic minority groups.  The Nu people mostly inhabit areas in Fugong, Gongshan, Lushui and Lanping Counties, all of which are located in the Nujiang River reaches. A native ethnic group inhabiting the Northwest Yunnan areas, the Nu minority boasts a considerably long history, and it was precisely from the Nu minority that the Nujiang River got its name.  The Nu people are not only good singers and dancers, but also creators of diversified and colorful folk literary works. The Nu people believe in a primitive "nature worship" religion, and their representative annual celebration is the "Fairy Festival". The Nu minority people across the region speak substantially differentiated vernaculars and the Chinese (Han) language has been established as their written language.

Typical house of the Nu minority people have wood-board walls and slate-tile roofs. Rooms in such houses are either connected by a stting room or directly interlinked, and terraces and stone stairs are common components of the compound. All those have fully shown the architectural art of the Nu minority people,  who skillfully utilize lively spatial layout to achieve harmony between humans and the nature.