This pika is found in northeastern China. Recent research models suitable habitat in nearby areas, but predicted areas are not the same as confirmed occupied sites.
The back is ocherous brown or reddish brown with a dark dorsal stripe, and the underside is ocherous. Winter fur is grayish brown, with a sandy or light ocherous underside.
The species account records large vegetation-free talus and small overgrown talus slopes at 400–1,300 m. Surroundings range from dry steppe and broad-leaved forest to taiga and mountain tundra.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.