Kingdom of the Little People - Only in China

Kingdom of the Little People - The theme park only China could conceive

Saying the Kingdom of the Little People is an unusual theme park is an understatement. In this (sort of) amazing place all the staff is under 1,30m (or 51 inches), from the cashier, to the performers, to the administration. The park was created in 2009 by a real state investor with lots of money and little perspective of what the west would think of his idea, and since then it is home for about 100 people, all of them with some kind of dwarfism.

This is the kind of park that could only exist in China, where the Human Rights groups don't have strength as in the western world.

The Kingdom hosts performances through the day

The first time I ever heard of this exotic place was through the British TV Show An Idiot Abroad, broadcast by Sky1, in which the funny dummy Karl Pilkington travels the world giving his honest and, mostly, limited with historical perspective, view of the many places he visits.

Usually he would travel the paths given to him by the producers of the show, but in that particular episode he decided to go the Kingdom by himself. In his vision, the Kingdom of the Little People is a cool place to visit and also a great opportunity for the staff to live well in a world made specially for them.

This line of thought is not without controversy, in the USA alone there is multiple dwarfism associations and human rights associations with opinions in this matter, and all of them consistently bash the chinese attraction, comparing it with a human zoo and a way to get rid of the dwarfs in chinese society, making it more hegemonic. 

Karl enjoying the activities

The KotLP went back to my mind with the recent Vice documentary, in which a journalist visited the place, trying to close herself of any personal prejudice to properly absorb the daily life and reality of this people in the best way possible. In this journey we get into a handful of characters lives and routines.

I would recommend watching the doc, it is quite interesting:

In short, we enter these people's lives with the host and discover more about their past outside the Kingdom. It was always a hard life, the chinese society is particularly full of prejudice and the world of the tall people was full of hardships and even humiliation. Treated as children for the most of their lives, even with ages ranging from 18 to 50 years old, they were mistreated as useless by their families. Inside the park they have the opportunity to meet their peers, make new friends and even giving a shot to romance. They all understand each other and the hardships of having dwarfism and try to do their best for themselves and their jobs in the park.

Everything there is adapted to people with dwarfism, the steps are narrow, the chairs, tables and door knobs are lower. The infrastructure does not seem well-maintained, but considering the reality of most people in China maybe it's not particularly bad. Looking from the outside, as a western with more life opportunities, it's easy to understand why organizations such as the Little People of America are so against it. In An Idiot Abroad, the hosts calls his friend Warwik Davis, actor famous for doing Star Wars and the Harry Potter series, asking his opinion on the matter. Warwik places himself strongly opposing the concept and the park, believing that the little people are being humiliated and being used as laughing stock.

I don't have a conclusion for this discussion and will leave it open for your interpretation.

 Kingdom of the Little People Theme Park

Where is it?

Near the city of Kunming, in the Yunnan province, China.

How do you get there?

It was hard to find this information on the english speaking web, but what I have is this:

- Take the 82 bus to the end of the line at Ma Jie for 2 yuan.
- Get an special white/beige bus that leaves from the outside of the main bus station for 6 yuan. If it doesn't appear you can get a taxi that will cost 150 yuan.
- The entrance is 50 yuan for the park and performance.
- The white/beige bus will take you back to town ate 5pm.