This thrush has been recorded in mountain forests from the eastern Himalaya to Yunnan, China. It is treated as a species distinct from the related Alpine Thrush in the 2016 study.
Compared with the related Alpine Thrush, it has a narrow, nearly unmarked golden-buff throat bordered by strong black moustachial markings. Buff tones may extend across the central underparts.
Its breeding habitat is montane forest. At Cang Shan in Yunnan, two singing males were recorded in May in fir forest with rhododendrons. The paper says that outside the breeding season the species appears to favour dense broadleaved forest.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.