The Lolo  migrated to Vietnam in two waves:  one in the 15th century and the second in the 18th.  They are said to have come from Yunnan Province, China.  There are two main groups in Vietnam today:  the Black Lolo (Lo Lo Den) and the Flower Lolo (Lolo Hoa).  The groups have different costumes,  customs, rituals, and language.  

     The Lolo live in Dong Van and Meo Vac Districts of Ha Giang Province, Bao Lac District of Cao Bang Province, and Muong Khuong district of Lao Cai Province.

       The Lolo may be a part of the Pu Tribe of Yunnan, China.  It is also possible that the Lolo are really a group of small Tibeto-Burman tribes who migrated to Vietnam at different times and have formed a heterogeneous group.  The term Lolo is considered derogatory in China.  Prior to 1950, the Chinese used the word to refer to small baskets carried by some Yi people, and said to contain the souls of their deceased ancestors.  This could have been the origin of the name of the Vietnamese group.  Another possibility is that Lolo might be a Vietnamese corruption of the term Luoluo, which means "tiger tiger"  and is the name of a large people group in central Yunnan Province of China.  The majority Vietnamese also call the Lolo Pen Ti Lolo, a derogatory name that means "decapitated Lolo".

       The Lolo used to use a pictographic script, which was used for religious rituals and was mainly known to their shamans. It was written on strips of wood, parchment or paper. The script has been forgotten by most the Lolo in recent years and is now mainly used by the Nosu people in China.  The complicated system has 140 symbols, and only a few families now have copies of these writings.