The head of the Pipa bends backward with symbols like long-live, joy, luck,etc casted on top. The peg is where the strings are held and the sound are adjusted. It is made of ivory, cattle horn, mahogany. Pipa eight kind of ledges and 30 classes of frets, just like the those on a guitar, it can play music. Ledge is also made of ivory, cattle horn, mahogany. Fret is made of bamboo, boiled with herbs until its surface becomes smooth and it will not harbor insects. The tail-piece underneath holds the other ends of the strings. The Pipa belly covers the whole surface, the material are now mostly come from the maple trees grown in the Lancao area in the Nenan Province. The back of the Pipa is made of padauk; there are backs that are made of mahoganies or palisanders. Between the surface and the back the space is hollow, so it is the sound-box. When the strings are played, the synchronized echoes in the sound-box make the music. Pipa has four strings, all are nylon covered steel wires so that the player's fingers are protected at the same time and they also enhance the sound. The four strings are of different thickness. The first one is the thinest and softest one, and its timbre is the brightest and its pitch is the highest. The forth one is the thickest and strongest one, its timbre is the dullest and its pitch is the lowest. Nowadays some of the Pipa are just like a beautiful art piece, decorated with jade stones and precious jewels on the body, blooming flowers on the surface, and sculptures, symbols, poems on the back.