Nuo opera (Ritual Masked Opera), a kind of drama featuring masked dancing, is popular with minority groups in the mountainous districts in Guizhou, Sichuan, Hubei provinces and Chizhou City, Anhui Province. Nuo Opera is an age-old Chinese folk-custom and is the only most complete and ancient opera that still exists in China. So it is considered as the living fossil of the early human civilization and folk arts.

Nuo opera is a kind of folk art that reflects the significance of clans and religion. The basic performance unit is usually a clan. The Chinese character Nuo originally meant a patterned step to drive away the evil during the last month of the Chinese lunar year. The purpose of the performance is often to pray, to show people's respect for the ancestors, or to drive away the evil and enjoy a life of comfort. It maintains the features of simplicity and of being straightforward. It is of great value in the research of the development of Chinese ancient opera, culture, social fashion, customs and religion.