I have experienced a lot of “firsts” in China. But none compare to experience we had in Kunming, China over the Tomb Sweeping holiday. During a five day trip to the Yunnan province, we had a day to kill while transferring through Kunming. Besides playing a round at the five star golf resort, there is not much to do in Kunming – or so we thought. While sharing a few pints with the Dutch owner of the only western bar in LiJiang, we caught wind of a place called “Dwarf Village”. To our bewilderment, we were told that this is a magical place where little people live in mushroom houses and put on a variety show twice a day. When I first heard about this place, I thought it was a little bit wrong to exploit little people. However, I figured it was unlikely that I would be passing through Kunming again, so I might as well give it a try.
Getting this place was a bit of a challenge. First of all, the place isn’t advertised on any travel web site or any pamphlets at the airport. Good thing Katie’s Chinese is coming along well enough to communicate with the guy at the tourism desk. She was able to secure us a tour guide for the day and a private trip out to the Butterfly Museum. Apparently the organizers of “Dwarf Empire” got some flack from the international media when they opened the place for exploiting little people. Thus, they don’t really advertise this place anymore. Instead, they have built a decrepit butterfly museum as a guise to cover the real attraction – a real life Smurf village. In any case, the guy at the tourism desk and the driver thought it was hilarious that three Americans traveling through Kunming wanted to go see the Dwarf Empire.
Checking our dignity at the airport, we got in the private car and headed for the Dwarf Empire. About 45 minutes later, we arrived to one of the most surreal places in the world. The “empire” is about 30 little mushroom houses that Chinese dwarfs live in between their twice-daily performances. This performance is a strange compilation of singing, dancing, acrobatics, circus stunts and mini motorcycles rides. The dwarfs that live in the empire truly seem happy to be performers. The ones without the talent to perform have jobs working the gift shops and concession stands. Thus, I think I changed my mind about whether the little people living in the empire are being exploited. I actually think that it might be a good thing for these people. They are giving the opportunity to make a decent living and perform for spectators. China can be a cruel and harsh place for people that are different. I can only imagine the ridicule that these people must have lived with prior to coming to live in the empire. The polite applause that the crowd offered and the smiles that it put on the faces of the performers leads me to believe that these people are happy living here and don’t feel as though they are being exploited.
Regardless of whether you think they are being exploited or not, it is certainly worth the trip if you have a couple of hours to kill in Kunming. If you do stop by, say hi to The Emperor for me. If you make it there with your wife or girl friend, then he is likely to tell you repeatedly that she is “hěn piàoliang”. At least that is what he kept telling Katie.
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