In the southwestern part of China, in the Sichuan province, there is a small village of Yangxi. It is closed to tourists, and a little less than a hundred people live in it. But almost half of the entire population of this village is dwarfs, whose height does not exceed 117 centimeters.
Due to its favorable location, the village is hidden from other settlements behind high mountains and large rice fields. But, since dwarfs began to be born here more often than anywhere else, back in the 19th century, legends about Yancy have been around for a long time. And the most important mystery, which to this day is unknown to scientists - why are dwarfs born here so often?
The first serious research was carried out here by a doctor from Britain in 1947. When he visited the Chinese village, there were more people living in it, and there were several hundred dwarfs. The doctor was interested in studying this phenomenon, rarely found in ordinary cities, so he carefully wrote down everything he could learn about the local dwarfs. He was the first to tell the West about this amazing Chinese medical phenomenon.
Thanks to the study of an English doctor, after four years the village gained popularity among the medical community. Scientists managed to find out that almost half of Yancy's residents suffer from congenital dwarfism. Moreover, since this genetic disease is hereditary, the number of dwarfs here practically does not decrease. Given that the normal ratio of the birth rate of dwarfs is 1 in 20 thousand.
Immediately, the doctors were faced with the question - what determines the appearance in this particular Chinese settlement of such a number of dwarfs. To begin with, they began to research the local soil, water and food. After checking a large number of bodies of water, crops and soil types, scientists did not find anything there that could explain the phenomenon.
The next probable cause was named closely related ties. The village is quite small, somewhat cut off from other communities. However, there are examples of the birth of dwarfs in the world and in more isolated communities due to marriages between relatives. And even there they are still much smaller.
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According to another theory, the Yanxi dwarfs are the consequences of some secret government experiments or a gas attack from Japan during the Second World War. But after studying this option, it turned out that the Japanese did not reach this part of China, and dwarfs began to be born here in the 19th century.
The oldest inhabitants of the village tell the legend that once there were no dwarfs at all. But one day an unknown disease hit the locals, after which the children stopped growing. At the same time, they began to develop joint problems, a rash on the body and hair loss. But neither medical examinations of local residents, nor a study for the presence of radiation gave any results.
This is where scientific attempts to explain the birth of such an abnormal number of dwarfs in the Chinese village of Yangxi end. And local myths begin. One of them tells about a powerful curse that was allegedly imposed on people for some of their actions. Another tells of a large black turtle, which was unknowingly killed and eaten by one of the villagers. Before his death, the turtle managed to impose a curse on the entire family of people living here. Oddly enough, this is the version that modern Yansi residents believe most of all. Therefore, they try to change their place of residence whenever possible. Because of this, the number of people remaining here is sharply reduced. If the village was devastated at the same rate, only a few dwarfs would remain here in thirty years.