The Lahu ethnic minority has a population of 475,000 and is located primarily in the Lancang Lahu Autonomous Region in Simao Prefecture, the Southern Lincang Prefecture, and Menghai County in western Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province. A large number of Lahu are found in Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos.

The Lahu language belongs to the Chinese-Tibetan language family and contains seven tones. Many Lahus also speak Chinese and the Dai language. Often there is such diversity in the Lahu language that Lahus from various locations have difficulty understanding each other. In the past, the Lahu used woodcarvings to pass messages to one another; in some areas, however, western priests developed an alphabet. After 1949, their script was reformed and became the official language.

Some suggest that Lahu means, "to roast tiger meat by fire", which indicates that the Lahu were primarily a hunting people. It is thought that the Lahu are descendents of the "Kunming" people, a nomadic people who lived in the Erhai area in western Yunnan. The Lahu ultimately moved south to find better hunting lands and more lush grassland. Eventually they settled into their present day locations and came under the influence of the Han and Dai peoples. Through this influence the Lahu turned to agriculture and adopted a feudal system of government. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the Lahu gained a reputation for being rebels against the Imperial Chinese, but this ultimately led to their being subdued by the Chinese and placed under their rule.

The Lahu men wear collarless jackets buttoned on the right side, long baggy trousers, and a black turban. The women wear long robes with slits along the legs and sew bright bands of colored cloth with silver ornaments around the slits and collar. The women also wear a long headdress that extends down to their waist. They live in houses built on stilts, and their domesticated animals stay below. Monogamy is practiced among the Lahu, and typically the woman plays the more dominant role.

The Lahu celebrate the Spring Festival by holding a grand reed-pipe dance party, which consists of shooting three cannons and a competition to determine which village has the best reed-pipe music and dance. At sundown, after the winning village has been selected, the women join hands and dance around in circles. Later, the men will join the dance and the young women will cover their faces with scarves. Each young man who is unmarried takes the scarf of the young lady he is interested in, and she then runs after him until they are far away in a dense forest, thus ending the red-pipe dance party.

In the past Lahu women would shave their heads so as to protect them from being grabbed by wild animals when they went hunting with their husbands. They have continued this practice until today, believing that shaving their heads makes them beautiful and clean. However, unmarried women do not shave their heads.

The Lahu have traditionally worshipped many gods but believed that there was one supreme God known as "Exia" (or G'ui Sha). They believe that Exia created the universe and mankind, and that he had the power to decide good or bad fortune for individuals. Exia was placed in a forbidden spot deep in a mountainous forest unapproachable by any non-Lahu. Later in Lahu history Mahayana Buddhism was introduced and many Lahu became followers. In the early 20th century Christianity was introduced, and many Lahu decided to follow that as well.