Life Among The Little People Of Dwarf Empire
Featured in Ripley's Believe It or Not!
Sitting just outside Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province in southwestern China, the Kingdom of the Little People (a.k.a. Dwarf Empire) remains a controversial theme park staffed entirely by performers no more than 4 feet 3 inches tall. Since opening in 2009, the park’s staff has expanded from 60 to 140 performers, many with congenital conditions such as dwarfism.
Each day, these performers dress up in costumes and act out everything from fairy tales to Hip Hop dance routines. Dwarf Empire provides a steady paycheck, and it allows staff to showcase their singing, kung fu, and break-dancing talents. But, is it an exploitative human zoo or a humanitarian panacea?