The instrument's sound box is made from a bottle gourd, which is covered on the playing end with snake skin.
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It is used primarily by non-Han ethnic groups of southern China, particularly the Zhuang, who live in the Guangxi province and use it in their bayin (八音, lit. "eight sounds") ensemble.
The name Tujunga is assumed to have meant "old woman's place" in the extinct Tongva language, where Tuhu "old woman" is a term for Mother Earth in Tongva mythology.