Yunnan Nationalities Museum offers 8 permanent exhibitions to admire at 11 galleries. The exhibits including costumes, farm implements, folk art, and ancient documents of Yunnan ethnic minorities, vividly reflect the rich and colorful traditional culture of Yunnan ethnic minorities.

At the museum, you will see the costumes of the 56 nationalities already named in China. On the first floor of the museum are Yunnan Ethnic Costumes and Textile Tools, Costumes Art of Chinese Ethnic Groups, and Ethnic Handicrafts Souvenir Shop. Halls of Folk Patterned Roof Tiles – Eave Caps, Traditional Daily Tools and Utensils, Folk Arts, Ethnic Musical Instruments and Precious Stones are on the second floor.

In the exhibition hall of national costumes and production techniques, you can see the tie-dye craft of the Bai people, the batik of the Miao people, and art of the weaving of Zhuang brocade and Dai brocade, and a variety of embroidery methods. In the exhibition hall of folk masks, you will see masks of different expressions such as Tiaoshen masks, masks for sacrifices, theatrical masks, masks for driving the devils and ghosts out of the dwellings, etc. Some of the national instruments at the museum are less-known among the visitors. So is the means of playing the national instruments.

The museum offers a great chance to get a little acquainted with the writing system of some ethnic minorities through the changing characters of them on display. Through the farm implements, you can also know about the distinctive styles of the architectures of the ethnic minorities, and everyday technology, such as oil extraction, sugar refinery, rice milling, paper making, and making ceramics.