In China, it’s not uncommon to see people walking around in public wearing surgical masks. Whether it’s to protect themselves from airborne illness (bird flu, anyone?) or the poor air quality (this week saw Beijing’s worst air quality on record), those masks have become a necessity for many.

But why walk around in the boringly sterile white masks when you can make them “cuter.” And that’s just what some Chinese have done as you can see in the following pics. With a severe flu season facing us here in the U.S., maybe it’s just a matter of time before we see Americans walking around with these:

Happy weekend, everyone!