For this culture, great hair brings prosperity (Image source: Reproduction / Oddity Central)
What are Yao women living in Huangluo Village in China special about? According to Guinness World Records, the answer would be the long strands each exhibits. The average of the 120 female representatives of this village is 1.7 meters in length - the longest registered hair of over 2.1 meters.

As you can see, for these Chinese women, hair is their most precious possession. And the reason they leave their locks so long is simple: according to their culture, the longer the hair, the longer the life, health and prosperity. This belief has become one of the main attractions of Huangluo village - a place that also attracts tourists for the natural beauty it offers in its surroundings.

Have a haircut? Only once in a lifetime

At 16, Huangluo women are allowed to have their hair cut. According to tradition, this is the time when they should look for a partner, so they cut their hair, pass it to their grandparents and they put together an ornamental hairstyle - which is kept to give to the future groom.

Even when it is cut, hair is not thrown away (Image source: Playback / Oddity Central)
After all this process, the hair piece will also be worn by the woman to complement each day's hairstyle. In addition to bringing good vibes to women, long hair is also used as status. According to the hairstyle that each one wears, it is possible to know if they are married, have children or are after a love.

Only husband and children could see each woman's hair

Until the 1980s, Huangluo's tradition was strict about the locks of its residents. Only her husband and children could see the loose hair of a woman - who needed to hide it with a handkerchief most of the time.

Washing a hair over 1 meter should not be too easy ... (Image source: Reproduction / Oddity Central)
The rules were so strict that if a foreigner or other resident accidentally saw a woman's hair, he was forced to spend three years with her family as a son-in-law. But all these laws were modified in 1987, and now Huangluo's female representatives can show off their long locks to everyone.

To make their dark hair well-groomed and beautiful, women of this ethnic group wash them in the river with a special shampoo, made up of water that is used to wash rice.

Source: Oddity Central

* Originally posted on 07/26/2012 .

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