Kingdom Of Little People


© Giulio Di Sturco

Across the great lakes and skyscrapers in Kunming, capital city of Yunnan, in the southwest of China, between gentle slopes and rolling hills, there lies a curious realm. A special place with houses in the shape of mushrooms, fireplaces and pink ladders. The Kingdom of the Little People is a theme park in which a hundred people ranging in age from 20 to 50 years and whose height cannot exceed 120 centimeters live and perform. Mr. Chen Mingjing, an entrepreneur of Sichuan, created the park in 2009. “one day, on the train, I saw two dwarfs and I thought “What a pity! What a thrill!” I quickly decided that we would create a place for them. The decision to create this theme park has drawn strong reactions from stakeholders, to human rights activists. Some say that it is a zoo, a grotesque parade, a return to the time when, in the Renaissance courts, the dwarf was a entertainment marvel, a deformed spectacle and at best a sport of princes and cardinals. As in all human affairs there is a lot of grey, the way we see good and bad is always filtered through culture.

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