Introduction

The Jinuo have a population of 22,900 people according to the census of the year 2010. Most ofthe Jinuo are distributed in the Jinuo Mountain, in a series ofmild hills with moist climate near Mengyang Township in Jinghong Municipality, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture ofYunnan Province.

The Jinuo ancestors first migrated from Pu’er, Mojiang and even further north. They went by Kunming and Yuxi, then moved to Mengzha and Mengyang in Xishuangbanna,and finally settled in the Jinuo Mountains. In the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, Han merchants entered the Jinuo Mountains to promote tea-making technology and purchase tea, which had an important impact on the development ofJinuo economy and society.