It's a custom to keep three pairs' of tiger shoes for the baby, respetively in scarlet, blue and purple. As always, red represents an auspicious life; blue, homophonic with "blocking' in Chinese, means all misfortunes can be blocked away from the baby. And finally, a pair of tiger shoes in purple. Purple, being homophonic with "son" in Chinese, predicts bright prospects for a son.

Tiger shoes have a long history. Some even believe they originated from a mythologically-ancient story.

Long ago, in the famous old town of Yangzhou lived a boatman called Big Yang, who was very generous and ready to help others. Moved by his help and charity, an old female passenger presented him a gorgeous drawing. In the picture, a beautiful girl was embroidering a pair of tiger shoes. The boatman appreciated it and put it on the wall of his home.

A miracle happened, the girl in the picture stepped out of the picture every day and did all the house work for Big Yang. Day by day, the two started to fall in love. Years later, they had a son who brought much happiness to the couple. But unfortunately, a town official heard about the magic picture and robbed it. Big Yang was angry with the evil official though he could do nothing. The greedy official put the picture on the wall of his home and waited for the beautiful girl to arrive. To his disappointment, nothing happened.

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