The Chinese word mu ou (pronounced moo-auw) means puppet.  My conversation teacher, Zhang Laoshi (notice we share the same family name!), brought me and my classmates (tongxue) back these little puppets as souvenirs from a trip she took to southern China recently.

Pretty cool, huh? It reminds me of a Christmas ornament.

I guess there are 30+ minority groups in the southern part of China where she went (I can’t remember the province name right now?)  Some of the minority women make these handicrafts which depict the various people groups.  The mu-ou I was given represents an Yi zu woman (i.e. the Yi people.)  She looks kind of Jamaican to me, but what do I know?

I asked my teacher if they sell these here in Xining (because I liked it and wanted to buy some more) but she said no. 

Just figures…

I’m keeping my eyes open all the same.