Traditional houses consist of two floors with wrought iron balconies and high roofs covered in red tile.

[1][3][4] The town has been photographed by noted artist Angeles Torrejon for a series called “Vivir en la Sierra” (To live in the mountains).

[5] The historic center of the town is its main plaza, which serves as a tianguis market on Sundays, selling handcrafts such as rebozos, other textiles, fresh flowers, ceramics, leather goods and more, mostly from the surrounding rural communities.

The patron saint of the municipality is the Apostle James the Great, whose feast day is celebrated on 25 June here with masses, processions, fireworks and traditional dance including the Voladores.

Traditional dress for women includes a long black skirt with a white embroidered blouse and rebozo or quezquémetl.

For men, it includes undyed cotton pants and shirt, a palm leaf hat, sandals and a machete.

Traditional dishes of the area include mole poblano, pipián, tamales, fresh water shrimp and a type of ant called chicales.

[2] At night, a traditional snack is “molletes,” French bread with refried beans, longaniza sausage and cheese which is toasted.

[5] Carnival lasts for the eight days prior to Ash Wednesday to mark the end of “mundane life” in preparation for Lent and Holy Week.

Participants are men dressed in multicolored outfits and wood masks who dance in the streets accompanied by live or recorded music.

These are known as the “Huehues of Pahuatlán.” The municipality supports the annual event in several ways including workshops for the making and improving of costumes and masks.

Religious events are complemented by the annual Festival Cultural de la Sierra which sponsors plays art exhibits and more.

[2][10] Together, the communities form an area of 80.37km2, nestled in the far northwest of the state of Puebla, bordering the Sierra Otomí-Tepahua mountains of Hidalgo.

[2][3][12] It is separated from the municipal seat by twelve km, and a deep ravine cut by the San Marcos River.

[2][13] The main economic activity here is handcrafts, especially the production of a paper called “amate” made from the bark of a kind of fig tree that grows in the area.

The production of the paper has caused environmental problems such as the overstripping of trees for bark and the use of chemicals which wind up in the Cazones River.

[2] In February, the community of Cuauneutla celebrates its patron, the Señor de la Agonía (Lord of Agony) with cultural, religious, sporting and social events.

In October 2007, a fault line 800 meters long opened on one side of the town, causing the evacuations of over eighty families.

[4] The steep terrain and wet weather of the area makes its prone to landslides and the opening of cracks in the ground.

[20] In 2007, a fault line opened in the ground for 800 meters from the municipal palace to Leandro Valle Schools, provoking several landslides and mandatory evacuations of over eighty families.

Where natural vegetation still exists, wildlife such as deer, rabbits and opossum along with various bird and reptiles species are found.

[10] The main economic activities are farming, especially coffee and the making of handcrafts, with commerce concentrated in the town of Pahuatlán proper.

[2] The municipality is Mexico's main producer of amate bark paper, with its production concentrated in the community of San Pablito.

[14] Other handcrafts include hats, necklaces, embroidered clothing, baskets, semi precious stones and the weaving of wool.

The production and sale of these bands is not only to help support the artisan community of Pahuatlan but also to earn money for other museum projects.

The economic recession of 2009 in the United States had a significant negative impact in the area with remittances sent back cut.