Li Fangyu witnessed modern-day Qing dynasty lookalikes & marveled at the "huge lump of hair" on the Long-Horned Miao women

Reported by Reporter You  /  Taipei

The sweet and energetic host Li Fangyu has a fresh and lively hosting style. She once served as the field host for “Taiwanese Feet Touring Mainland China,” visiting eight provinces in China. Her unique and captivating hosting style always makes audiences feel as if they are personally on the scene. Through her work, she absorbed the flavors of various places, and when talking about travel, she can not only discuss history but also uncover the "incredible" aspects of each location with her special insight.


▲ Li Fangyu (left in photo), visited ethnic minorities in the mountains of Yunnan and was amazed by how "huge a lump" their hair was (Photo provided by Li Fangyu)

In China’s faraway deep mountains, there are many lesser-known magical hidden places. In Yunnan, there is an ethnic minority settlement that seems like a "Qing dynasty brought to life." The locals not only maintain the ancient tradition of long hair passed down through generations, but their hairstyles also closely resemble those of the Qing people, leaving Li Fangyu exclaiming, "Oh my God, I’ve actually seen Qing people with my own eyes!"

This time, Li Fangyu and the photography team traveled to a remote mountain area inhabited by a branch of the Miao people in Yunnan known as the "Long-Horned Miao." To reach the remote mountain settlement where the "Long-Horned Miao" live, it takes a full day and night of driving, on bumpy roads and even through stretches that can hardly be called "roads."

Hidden in the deep mountains, the Long-Horned Miao live in electricity- and water-free villages made entirely of wooden houses. The entire village is nestled in the mountains, exceptionally isolated and beautiful. Notably, the local girls have been required to grow their hair long since childhood. Their several-meter-long hair, maintained for decades, is a unique tradition of the Long-Horned Miao. In daily life, because their hair is so long, women have to tie it tightly backward. "The first time I saw them, I really thought I had arrived at an ancient village left over from the Qing dynasty—because the women in the tribe, due to years of tying their hair back, have their hairlines pushed way back."


▲ Young girls who have to grow their hair from childhood, once putting on the super heavy "hair," have to push out their bellies to stand steadily (Photo provided by Li Fangyu)

During traditional festivals, the women also have to first tie a long ox horn onto their heads, then wrap it with about four meters of black long wool thread and their real hair, intricately twisted together to form one "huge lump" of hair as festive attire. Li Fangyu explained that according to the traditions of the older generation, wool thread must contain real hair to receive blessings from ancestral spirits, so the local girls grow their hair long without cutting it to preserve this precious heritage of the tribe.

"Once the whole hair is tied up, it’s extremely, extremely heavy—the girls can only take tiny steps, just like women with bound feet in the past." Not only is the hair super heavy, but the traditional clothing also requires wearing lots of silver jewelry, adding several more kilograms to each person, so the women’s movements also appear unusually graceful. While filming the Long-Horned Miao, Li Fangyu experienced wearing the traditional outfits and hairstyles of the local women, which was excruciating for her. "Oh my God, my whole body felt super heavy, and my hair was pulled back tightly—I even wondered if my hairline had receded a few centimeters."

The Long-Horned Miao village, like a "present-day Qing dynasty," gave Li Fangyu a glimpse into a different world from her usual travels, and she couldn’t help but laugh, "I want to especially remind all the girls out there: the rumor that tying your hair too tightly will make your hairline recede is absolutely true—I’ve witnessed it firsthand."


▲ Village girls with their hair taken down actually have hairlines further back than most people, looking like Qing people (Photo provided by Li Fangyu)

However, reaching this far-flung Long-Horned Miao village is actually very difficult for ordinary people. It takes a full day and night of driving, not only on rough roads but also through many areas where the term "road" doesn’t even apply.

From the moment they exited the airport, Li Fangyu and her team were on the road until evening. "That night was unforgettable for me. I remember we drove to a remote neighborhood, and the car stopped in front of a strange hotel with a restaurant downstairs and a guesthouse upstairs." Exhausted, Li Fangyu and her team got out of the car and prepared to go into the second-floor guest room, but before entering, they were completely stunned by what they saw. "Because the stairway entrance to the guesthouse was inside the restaurant kitchen, we had to walk through the restaurant. Unexpectedly, once inside, the floor was covered with the heads of dead chickens and ducks, the smell was unbearably foul, and the whole floor was red."

Holding back nausea, Li Fangyu rushed through the kitchen to the second floor, only to face an even bigger challenge. "My room was full of soot, and the table was covered in dust. As soon as I lay on the bed, the mattress and quilt were all wet." Recalling this "terrifying guesthouse" experience, Li Fangyu looked visibly shaken. "What made me even more uncomfortable was the pillowcase, which gave off a strong greasy smell. Upon closer inspection, the entire pillowcase was black—it was all moldy inside."

"Sigh, that night I didn’t dare sleep at all. I could only sit on the floor, read a bit, doze off, and wait for morning to come." The next day, as soon as Li Fangyu left the guesthouse and started driving again, she broke out in a full-body rash. "I think that guesthouse probably hadn’t been cleaned or had its sheets changed since it first opened." Thinking about the "terrifying guesthouse" made Li Fangyu itch all over, but during the trip, she had to suppress her discomfort to complete the task. Looking back, Li Fangyu, still shaken, said, "Thankfully, I found the Long-Horned Miao and saw that beautiful, seemingly isolated mountain village and culture—it made all the hardship worth it."