This shrew is recorded in Chinese mountain regions. A 2017 systematic study describes gray-toned fur and high-elevation forest records, while flagging uncertainty around a population in Yunnan.
The study describes a slate-gray back, gray-brown underside, pale hands and feet, and a tail darker above with a lighter underside and a terminal tuft.
Many records in the paper come from mountain forest at about 1,200–3,500 m. The Ninglang-area population in Yunnan is flagged as potentially distinct and is treated provisionally.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.