Xiaohulei (pinyin: Xiǎo hū léi) is an ancient Chinese plucked stringed musical instrument. Named for its pronunciation, Hu Hu Ruo Lei. Also known as the dragon head pipa or the two-string pipa. There is little publicity. The Palace Museum in Beijing has a collection of Xiao Hulei made in the Tang Dynasty, which is known as a rare treasure.
In the Palace Museum collection, it can be found in "Yuefu Miscellaneous" in Duan'an Festival of Tang Dynasty. It was acquired by Kong Shangren, the author of the famous legendary play "Peach Blossom Fan" during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty. His inscription poem is engraved on the two strings, and he also created a play "Little Hulei" for this purpose.

Xiaohulei is a pipa-type stringed instrument that appeared in the Tang Dynasty. As early as the 4th century AD, in the frescoes of Ajanta in western India, there were already stick-shaped lutes and pear-shaped lutes. Since the Han and Wei Dynasties, musicians from the Western Regions have settled down through the "Silk Road" to perform their art in the central region, and have brought the Western Regions Quxiang Pipa through the Qiuci. Xiaohulei is a two-stringed musical instrument created by the Tang Dynasty musician Han Hong by referring to the form of the pipa in the Western Regions. It is more similar to the dragon-headed pipa in Nanzhao. In Nanzhao, China (now in Yunnan, southern Sichuan, and western Guizhou), there was a dragon-headed pipa. 

"Old Tang Book: Nanman Biography" (Volume 2, 2, 2, 2) contains: "Tang Zhenyuan period (AD 785-804) Nanzhao musical instrument has a dragon-headed pipa, such as the Qiuci system, and the length of the item is two feet six inches. Yu, the abdomen is six inches wide, two dragons face each other, and there are three pillars each, and the strings are as many." This rod-shaped, pear-shaped, dragon-headed pipa was introduced to Chang'an in mainland China through Chengdu, Sichuan during the Zhenyuan period. The Little Hulei made by Han Hong in the Tang Dynasty, which is collected by the Palace Museum in Beijing, has a history of more than 1,200 years. It has experienced the hands of famous people and is described in many documents. The vicissitudes of life, prosperity and decline, and finally return to the hands of the people.