The population is about 38 thousand. The Nu people are mainly distributed in the three counties of Lushui, Fugong and Gongshan in Nujiang Prefecture of Yunnan Province, as well as in Lanping and Weixi counties nearby. The Nu people use the Nu language, which is a Tibeto-Burman language of the Sino-Tibetan language family (language branch undetermined). The local dialects vary so significantly from place to place that the people from different places cannot communicate with each other. The Nu ethnic group does not have its own script, and the Chinese characters are used by most Nu people. In the past, the Nu people were blocked by mountains and the river, and so their society and economy developed slowly. In recent decades, steel cable bridges have been built one after another across the rolling Nu River, and the modern highways have also opened the Nu River area which was blocked by mountains and river, enabling all aspects of the Nu ethnic group to develop. The Nu people used to believe in the animistic primitive religion, and some people believed in Tibetan Buddhism, Catholicism or Christianity. It is said that the Nu people celebrated a New Year every three years in the past, and later, they changed to celebrate the New Year every year after being affected by other ethnic groups. There are two different times to celebrate the New Year, the New Year's Day and before and after the Spring Festival. The "Flower Festival" is a traditional folk festival of the Nu people at Gongshan. Every year from the 15th to the 17th of the third lunar month when the rhododendrons are in full bloom, the Nu people celebrate the festival for the “fairies".