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Village of ringmasters

 

Village of ringmasters

Village of ringmasters

 

It is an unusual hamlet, where almost every house has a couple of tigers and lions in the backyard. Zhang Yue explores a village in Suzhou, Anhui province, where you don't have to run away from home to join the circus.

 

Last year's big screen blockbuster Life of Pi was all about a shipwrecked boy and how he floated on the sea stranded with a huge tiger.

 

In certain villages in Suzhou, Anhui province, living with tigers and lions is part of daily life.

 

Xu Changzhou, 41, of Haogou village in Yongqiao district in Suzhou, starts his day by feeding his four tigers, three lions, two monkeys and a sheep. Xu has done this for the last 15 years.

Village of ringmasters

His backyard is no different from the average Chinese villager's, with piles of stuff covered under tarpaulin. But if you go nearer, you may hear the muted roars coming from under the waterproofed wraps. Unveil them and you'll see several lions and tigers staring out from their large cages.

 

"Watch out. Don't go too near," Xu warns strangers. The tigers, it seems, are wont to lift their legs and spray at unfamiliar visitors wandering too near their territory.

 

Like many households in his village, Xu's backyard houses a mini-zoo, and the 30-square-meter space is home to the animals when they are not touring the country, performing at southern provinces such as Yunnan, Guangdong and Hunan.

 

Ten days before the Lunar New Year, the village is quieter than usual, as most of the ringmasters have led their troupes away on tour during the Spring Festival.

 

It is a time-tested tradition for Haogou village, where the villagers have made a living out of training and performing with animals since the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. more

Village of ringmasters

Paws, claws and marking territory

 

Reporter's Log | Zhang Yue

 

As I felt the heavy paw on my shoulder, my mind went completely blank. It was a very sharp, firm grasp, and before I could even react, animal trainer Chao Yuezhan had yanked me away from the cage, as the other reporters screamed in terror.

 

I got away relatively unscathed although I could not say the same about my jacket. The hood had been torn to tatters. For about a day after, my back ached so much that I thought I'd better see a doctor, but luckily the pain gradually faded.

 

But not the memory.

 

I had been talking to the trainer next to the tiger's cage and he had been saying how well trained his animals were. So what prompted the attack, or rather, what made Weiwei the tiger try to hook me nearer?

 

After I pulled myself together, my journalistic curiosity got the better of the scary situation.

 

"Why did it try so hard to touch me?" I asked.

 

Chao, the 31-year-old tiger trainer, had the answer.

 

"It was the red of your jacket that attracted his attention," he says, smiling. "Tigers are easily attracted to bright colors, especially red."

 

I carefully glanced at Weiwei. He was still staring hard at my jacket, which, I confess, made me want to run away. He was a very muscular, very big animal.

Village of ringmasters

 

"Or maybe because you are born in the year of the tiger," he says. "And he just wanted to greet you like a friend. 'Pat pat and say hi'."

 

Personally, I liked the second explanation better, although Weiwei's enthusiasm was a little intimidating.

 

In the 20 minutes I spent watching the tigers perform and feed, I also learned another fact about them. They like to mark their territory, especially when they feel disturbed, and they do that by urinating. I was almost peed at until Chao shouted at me to watch out.

 

Our visit was about a week before the Spring Festival and most of the troupes in the village of circus owners were away performing. A week after the interviews, I was in the rainforests of Xishuangbanna in Yunnan province and we were taken to see some animals performing.

 

They were charging 50 yuan ($8) for a photo with the tigers and maybe the chance to touch them and give them a pat.

 

But I had already experienced that with Weiwei, and he didn't charge me a cent.

 

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