Kingdom of the Little People
- 8 years ago
In a land far, far away, love flourishes in a kingdom quite unlike any other. In mushroom-shaped homes and old dormitories, a community of dwarfs—all less than 51 inches tall—can be found singing, dancing, and performing on a daily basis for visiting tourists.
In this episode of The VICE Guide to Travel, we send VICE magazine's creative director, Annette Lamothe-Ramos, to visit the controversial theme park, Kingdom of the Little People.
The Kingdom of the Little People (Chinese: 小矮人王国; pinyin: Xiǎo Ǎirén Wángguó) is a theme park located near Kunming, Yunnan that features comic performances by people with dwarfism. Supporters of the park claim that it provides employment to people who would otherwise be unable to find work, but it has been criticized for treating dwarfism as a humorous condition.[
As of 2010, there were over 100 employees whose ages ranged from 19 to 48. The park requires employees to be less than 51 inches (130 cm) tall.[2] The employees live in nearby dormitories which were specifically constructed to be accessible to short people. During the performances, the actors pretend to live in small mushroom shaped houses.[2][3]
The park was founded in September 2009 by Chen Mingjing, a wealthy real estate investor,[4] as part of a complex he owns near Dian Lake in the western suburbs of Kunming that also includes the World Butterfly Ecological Park (世界蝴蝶生态园).[5][6] Although many visitors to the park are students from nearby towns, Chen hopes to make the park a destination for tourists visiting China. He provides English lessons for his employees to help them interact with foreign tourists. He aims to eventually employ 1,000 people with dwarfism.
In this episode of The VICE Guide to Travel, we send VICE magazine's creative director, Annette Lamothe-Ramos, to visit the controversial theme park, Kingdom of the Little People.
The Kingdom of the Little People (Chinese: 小矮人王国; pinyin: Xiǎo Ǎirén Wángguó) is a theme park located near Kunming, Yunnan that features comic performances by people with dwarfism. Supporters of the park claim that it provides employment to people who would otherwise be unable to find work, but it has been criticized for treating dwarfism as a humorous condition.[
As of 2010, there were over 100 employees whose ages ranged from 19 to 48. The park requires employees to be less than 51 inches (130 cm) tall.[2] The employees live in nearby dormitories which were specifically constructed to be accessible to short people. During the performances, the actors pretend to live in small mushroom shaped houses.[2][3]
The park was founded in September 2009 by Chen Mingjing, a wealthy real estate investor,[4] as part of a complex he owns near Dian Lake in the western suburbs of Kunming that also includes the World Butterfly Ecological Park (世界蝴蝶生态园).[5][6] Although many visitors to the park are students from nearby towns, Chen hopes to make the park a destination for tourists visiting China. He provides English lessons for his employees to help them interact with foreign tourists. He aims to eventually employ 1,000 people with dwarfism.