Its body is slim, with small head, slender extremity and long tail. Its body length is 50 to 60 centimeters, and tail length is 79 to 86 centimeters. Its vertex has black erecting hair crown. There is white hair between cheeks and the basal portion of the ears. The whole body of the adult is jet-black, with long, thick, dense and lustrous hair. Its hands and legs are jet-black, with flat finger (toe) nails. The tail end is white. The whole body of baby monkey is milky yellow, with golden yellow head and black tail. After about 30 days, the whole body turns black, but the head is still golden yellow.

Dwelling among the trees in tropical and subtropical jungles, it prefers moving about in groups, with one captain to lead the group. Expert in skipping, it can jump higher than 10 meters at a time. It seldom gets down to the ground, mostly drinking dew and seeper on leaves and feeding itself on young leaves, sprouts, flowers, and fruits.

It breeds all the year round, but its oestrus is in autumns and winters. Its gestation period is always 6 to 7 months, with one baby per fetus, occasionally two babies. It grows to sexual maturity at the age of 4 to 5.

It is only distributed in the west of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and in the southwest and north of Guizhou Province, with a quantity of about 4,000 to 6,000 heads.