The Tu Nationality mainly concentrated in Qinghai Province and Gansu Province. They speak the Tu language which belongs to the Mongolian branch of the Altaic language family. The Tu are good at dancing and singing. They are also know for their folk embroidery with designs like “five petal plum”, “cloud flower” and so on.

The Tu people used to believe in the polytheism. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, they turned to believe in Buddhism, hut some believed in Shamanism, Taoism and Ben religion. Shamanism is a primitive religion which believes in animism and immortality. The ancient Tus believed in Shamanism when they were in Eastern Liaoning. Even today we can find some Shamanist customs in their life. their major religious activities include offering sacrifices at Mongolian cairn, worshiping White Tiger, and selecting the Sacred Sheep.

The Ben religion was a primitive religion prevailing in Tibet in ancient times, which believes in all the gods and deities of heaven, earth, forest, mountain, water and lake, and lays stress on sacrificial offering, execration and divination. The religion was spread to the Tu area in the 8th century, and lost its prominence in th 14th century. Now there are only a few religions men in the appreciation of the imperial government, Sakyapa Buddhism were widely spread in the Tu area, where a number of Buddhist temples were set up in the Ming and Qing dynasties.