Nuo opera varies much from place to place because local culture and customs has a great influence on the forms, masks, costumes and conventions of Nuo opera. Generally, Nuo opera can be categorized as follows: Guizhou, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Yunnan.

Nuo opera of Guizhou

Guizhou is the center of Nuo drama in southwestern China due to its long Nuo opera history and abundant repertoire. In Anshun, a city in Guizhou, Nuo opera is the primary entertainment activity. Musical instruments include one gong and one drum. The drummer is a very important role during a performance. A patch of land serves as a stage. As a result, Guizhou Nuo is also called dixi (ground opera).

The only two occasions for the performance of Nuo opera are at the Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) and at the middle of the 7th moon when rice tassels. The religious meaning is obvious. People hope the Nuo opera can drive away bad luck and bring a good harvest. Year after year, numerous locals are attracted to this performance.

Sometimes a drama can last a dozen days. As is true in most other areas, Nuo Drama in Tunbu is the privilege of men to perform. The moment a dancer puts on his mask, he will not speak or act casually since putting on a mask means the spirit is on him already.

Nuo opera of Jiangxi

Jiangxi (江西) Nuo is usually called Gan Nuo as Gan (赣) is the abbreviation of Jiangxi Province. Nuo opera is most popular in the counties of Nanfeng and Shangli in Jiangxi. From late Qing Dynasty to now, there were about 150 Nuo opera performing groups. A temple for the Nuo god, which was built in the Ming Dynasty, is still in good function today for people to worship the Nuo god. About 80 Nuo opera programs date from the past still exist today.

The number of Nuo opera masks in Jiangxi is over 2000, and there are approximately 2000 professional Nuo opera performing folk artists. In Shangli county, a popular saying goes that in ancient times, there was a Nuo god every five kilometers. Therefore, Shangli county conserves over 20 Nuo god temples.

Nuo dancing, one of the most ancient arts and a necessary element in Nuo opera, has existed in Nanfeng, Jiangxi for over 2000 years. The movements of Nanfeng Nuo dancing are simple but powerful, retaining their ancient characters. Nanfeng Nuo dancing was even regarded as "The Active fossil of Chinese dancing Art". In 1996, Nanfeng county was called "The village of Chinese folk Art - Nuo Art" by National Culture Department of China.

Nuo opera of Anhui

Anhui (安徽) Nuo is special because it is performed on a clan basis not by a troupe as in other places. Chizhou Nuo is the best known Nuo opera of Anhui. The origins of Nuo culture in Chizhou areas is one of the most ancient and can be traced back over thousands of years to the neolithic period that has been recently included in the Nation’s First Catalogue of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Chizhou Nuo opera is divided into three performing formats: Nuo ritual, Nuo dancing and Nuo drama.

The complete stage performance must be mixed with dramatic plot, performing procedure, role-playing, type of role, and qiemo (settings, scene and props). All of those should bear the theatrical characters. The performing skill can only be learned through oral instruction and the personal teachings passed on to disciples in person from generation to generation. Therefore, the performing art of Nuo opera is normally passed on within a clan from generation to generation.

There may be two sacrificial ceremonies (in which the Nuo opera are performed as a must) a year: the "spring sacrificial ceremony" that is held sometime between the seventh day to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month and the "autumn sacrificial ceremony" that is held on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month. Except for these two ceremonies, there is no performance at all throughout the year.

The dance remains in many villages in Guichi county of Chizhou today which has a strong local flavor. Surrounded in the mist of incense and smoke, "Nuo" dancers would dress colorfully; walk on stilts and wear masks while performing, expressing their wishes of sacrifice to their ancestors, praying for blessing and dispelling the evils.

While performing in some mountainous villages, dancers have to put masks on their foreheads, letting the audiences who are standing on the surrounding slopes to see them clearly. To accompany the dancing, the music instruments range from drum, bell, earthen bowl, bamboo flute and suona. There is a popular saying among Chizhou area that a village would not be considered a village without Nuo opera.

When Chizhou Nuo opera is performed, it normally has three integrative components: Nuo dancing, main performance, and salutatory & complimentary remarks. Some of the well-known repertoires of Chizhou Nuo opera are "Liu Wenlong", "Meng Jiangnü", "Fan Silking" and "Zhang Wenxian" and so on.

Nuo opera of Yunnan

Leopard Nuo opera in Chuxiong, Yunnan, differentiates itself by the fact that all dancers are painted with a leopard pattern on their nude bodies. The ferocious and agile leopard is regarded as the most qualified to drive away devils. Leopards are played by twelve Yi boys about 10 years old.

On the morning of the performance, young dancers will have the leopard pattern painted on their backs, hands, feet, and belly in black, white, red, and yellow colors. A yue-kin, a four-stringed plucked instrument with a full-moon-shaped sound box, is painted on their chests.

Their faces are covered with palm leaves, and their heads are decorated with two pheasant tails. When the make-up is finished, dancers enter the role of leopards, prohibiting further talking.

Village rooftops connected by ladders or wood panels form the stage for the "leopards." At the climax of the dance, leopards run after young girls watching the show until the girls take them home, where snacks have been prepared.

Leopards eat some snacks as well as throw away some while continuing to dance. This devil-dispelling activity is performed in the rooms, kitchens and stalls of one family after another; the leopards dispel devils for all the villagers.

In the film Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles (《千里走单éª'》) directed by Zhang Yimou, there is a scene of Yunnan Nuo opera.