Originated from 4000 years ago, the Chinese folk art - dough figurine, or Mian Ren in Chinese, is made of purified wheat flour, glutinous rice flour, bee honey, and glycerin.

Nowadays, there are fewer and fewer dough figurine artists in Beijing. So I was very exciting to find so many cute and exquisite dough figurines on the second floor of Baigong Handicrafts Museum.

There is large selection of dough figurines in the shop. Each figure, setting foot on a small wooden pedestal, is kept in a glass box.

I was enthralled by the figurine featuring two kids in ancient clothes watching cricket fighting. It is sold at RMB 260. Another one I like best was the God of Longevity. With long, white beard and brows, the smiling God wears a yellow robe. He holds a big peach in his left hand, and a long crutch in right. It cost 180 yuan.

The elderly female shop assistant told me that most of these handicrafts are made by Mr. You, a dough figurine master. His works have a prominent feature that every small figure has a talking, vivid facial expression. She also noted that a dough figurine should be kept from sunshine. In this way, the colors of the dough figurines will not fade for at least 20 years.