Huangluo: China's 'long hair village' -Chinaculture.org

A woman of Yao ethnic group adjusts her hair in Huangluo village, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo by Huo Yan/China Daily]

To 51-year-old Pan Jifeng, the long hair that women of the Yao ethnic group have kept for generations is a symbol of auspiciousness.

Huangluo village in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region is home to descendants of the Yao ethnicity. The women here are characterized by their red embroidered dress and their long hair, which is long enough to have their home recognized as the "world's longest hair village" by Guinness World Records.

A woman of Yao ethnic group adjusts her hair in Huangluo village, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo by Huo Yan/China Daily]

The secret to keeping one's hair long, shiny and away from grey hair is to wash hair with water used to clean glutinous rice, Pan said.

"We do not cut our hair from birth. When we reach the age of 18, we get our first haircut as part of a coming-of-age ceremony, which signifies that the girl is now an adult and can marry. The hair cut off at the ceremony is not to be thrown away, but preserved. After marriage and childbirth, this section of the hair is weaved and worn in the form of a hairpin so to speak, as a distinction between married and unmarried women," Pan said.

Pan Lianfeng and her granddaughter Xuanxuan. [Photo by Huo Yan/China Daily]

65-year-old Pan Lianfeng has two sons and both of them work in cities away from home. Pan and her daughter-in-laws work as performers in a local troupe. As for her granddaughter Xuanxuan, Pan said she has already started growing her hair, but whether the child could keep it up is all up to her.

"Girls these days don't like to wash their hair with water used to clean glutinous rice. They don't like that particular smell", said the grandmother.

Women of Yao ethnic group comb their hair in Huangluo village, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo by Huo Yan/China Daily]

Women of Yao ethnic group style their hair in Huangluo village, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo by Huo Yan/China Daily]

A woman of Yao ethnic group adjusts her hair in Huangluo village, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo by Huo Yan/China Daily]

Women of Yao ethnic group show off their hair in Huangluo village, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo by Huo Yan/China Daily]

Women of Yao ethnic group prepare before a show in Huangluo village, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo by Huo Yan/China Daily]

A woman of Yao ethnic group fixes her outfit in Huangluo village, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo by Huo Yan/China Daily]

A woman of Yao ethnic group adjusts her hair in Huangluo village, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. [Photo by Huo Yan/China Daily]