According to a Chinese fairy tale, humans were created out of clay by a goddess. In the hands of the folk artists, this myth is repeated over and over as the otherwise worthless clay is molded into fascinating sculptures via kneading, basking, coloring and baking.

There're four schools of clay figurines in China.

Fengxiang in northwest China's Shaanxi Province has a 3,000- year-history of making clay sculptures. Clay Figurine Zhang, boasting a 180-year history, was created by Zhang Mingshan in North China's Tianjin City. Compared with those found in northern China, Huishan clay figurines from East China's Jiangsu Province are short and their facial expressions are vividly depicted. Gaomi Clay figurines. Clay figurines in Gaomi, a city in Shandong Province on the eastern coast of China, have a 400-year history.