Humans of China: "After We Die We Will Be Dressed in Brand New Clothes"

This article comes from Humans of China (WeChat ID: humans-of-china), which aims to document and tell the stories of the many varied people of this vast country, one individual at a time. 

I've only ever had my hair cut once. My mum cut it when I was 18 to signify adulthood. The cut hair is still with me now – wrapped in the new hair that is growing on my head and then covered with black cloth. Hair is very important to us. No hair is thrown away, even those that fall out.

I married at the age of 15 and it was arranged. It was important for me to have long hair to marry. My husband likes long hair but back then all the ladies had long hair.

I can have my hair showing at the front because I have given birth to children. I have three children – one boy and two girls. The girls are also quite traditional and they also have very long hair.

This year, I turn 61 and my hair is about 160 centimeters long. My hair is very healthy and has hardly any gray hairs. I wash my hair every two or three days using the water from the local well. We go together and it's normally at night. It takes about half an hour and then after I go home I am ready to sleep. My hair is still wet so I lay a plastic sheet on the ground and lay the hair on the sheet to keep it clean. My hair then dries while I sleep.

After we die, we won’t be cremated, but buried. We will be dressed in brand new clothes and there will be a little makeup added to the face. The hair will be cleaned well and then wrapped onto our heads very neatly, ready to pass over into a new life.

I've always worn these clothes even when I was a farmer. I made them all myself, including the dress, waistband, blouse, and the cloth on my head. It cost around 3,000 kuai altogether. They are not easy to make and take a long time. I also made my own earrings using melted silver coins.

To make the cloth we had to hunt for a special type of rare caterpillar in the surrounding forests, with each piece needing many caterpillars. Cotton was very expensive when I was young, around 100 kuai for half a kilogram, so we couldn't afford it.

We used to grow a lot of produce but since tourists started visiting the mountains that we call home we've stopped growing as much. We still grow tea and chilis, which we then sell to tourists or use ourselves. Apart from selling chili and tea, I also sell roasted sweet potatoes and corn – it's much easier than growing rice.

We have also opened up a hotel which I run with my children. Additionally, each morning they drive me to the entrance of a nearby park, which is where I set up my barbecue to sell food in the day. When I'm finished they pick me up as we still live high up in the mountains.

A few years ago I went to travel to a big city where traditional people like myself are rarely seen. Because of my clothes and my long hair many people were interested in taking photos of me and chatting. I was a little shy but I found it quite funny overall.

READ: "I'm Now the Only Lady in My Village With Tattoos"

Photos courtesy of Cameron Hack