South-eastern China: north-western and central Yunnan and south-central Sichuan east to central Guizhou, Hunan, south-eastern Anhui and north-western Zhejiang, south to north-eastern Guangxi, northern Guangdong and north-western Fujian.
 
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Buffy Laughingthrush (Pterorhinus berthemyi) [XC304203]
by Guy Kirwan from , China (song)
Buffy Laughingthrush (Pterorhinus berthemyi) [XC841221]
by id from , China (call)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Garrulax poecilorhynchus (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) has been split into Rusty Laughingthrush (Garrulax poecilorhynchus) and Buffy Laughingthrush (Garrulax berthemyi) following Collar (2006).
Closely related to and may form a superspecies with Grey-sided Laughingthrush (Garrulax caerulatus) and Rusty Laughingthrush (Garrulax poecilorhynchus) and in the past all were treated as conspecific. Until recently normally lumped with Rusty Laughingthrush (Garrulax poecilorhynchus). North-western Yunnan population (east of R Mekong) named as a subspecies, ricina, but not fully diagnosable.