Yangsi, a remote village located in the southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan, has been a mystery to researchers for decades.
About 40% of the villagers are several heads shorter than the average person. 36 out of 80 inhabitants are dwarfs, and the height of the tallest of them is about 1.15 meters, and the lowest is 64 centimeters. This is too high a percentage to believe that stunted people are born in the village by accident, but so far no one has been able to find a better explanation.
Today, due to the increased number of tall residents, Yangsey may lose its second name - "Village of the Dwarves". According to village elders, their happy life was destroyed on a summer night many years ago when a disease hit the region. Several local residents suffered from a mysterious disease, but the most affected were children aged 5 to 7 years.
These children simply stopped growing, staying the same height for the rest of their lives. In addition to their inability to grow, some of the victims also suffered from various types of disabilities.
Scientists and experts have visited Yangsey more than once to study the water, soil and grain in the region. They also carefully studied the victims, hoping to find a clue to the riddle. However, they were unable to determine the cause of the unknown condition. Events that took place more than 60 years ago remain a mystery to this day.
According to county officials, the strange disease was discovered in 1951. During the 1985 census, it turned out that 119 dwarfs live in the village. Apparently, the disease affected the DNA of the villagers and began to be inherited.
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Since scientists could not establish the cause of the disease that struck the local residents, they believed that evil forces were to blame. Some blamed the demons, while others thought that their troubles were due to their ancestors, who turned out to be unhappy with their funeral. But the strangest explanation still claims that a long time ago, a man named Wang noticed a black turtle with strange legs. Some of the residents wanted to let her go, but they fried her and ate her. When the village was struck by the disease, they began to believe that the turtle was to blame and should be released.
However, there are more realistic versions of what happened. Some blame the toxic gases used by the Japanese who invaded China many years ago. But the Japanese never reached the village, so the residents are not ready to accept this version.