A recent online video showing a poignant encounter between a young albino girl and a blonde woman in Guizhou province, China, has deeply moved the country’s online community. The 20-year-old woman, known only as Weng, was enjoying a barbecue meal at a night market when she caught the attention of a five-year-old girl with albinism, who was intrigued by their matching hair colors.
The young girl, a daughter of a nearby stall owner, approached Weng excitedly and asked her why they both had the same golden hair color. Weng responded by saying, “All princesses have golden hair”. This delightful exchange ended with the little girl cuddling up to Weng and touching her hair until she finished her meal.
Weng shared a video clip of their interaction on her Douyin account, which rapidly gained popularity, receiving nearly 300,000 likes in just two days. Weng praised the little girl during the meal, telling her she looked like a beautiful Barbie doll. The encounter made Weng realize the lasting warmth that kind, spontaneous words can bring, as she conveyed to Bailu Video.
This heartfelt interaction warmed the hearts of the online community. One user commented, “You are two angels”, while another remarked on the visible joy in the little girl’s eyes. Another commenter reassured the young girl, saying, “The hair color that many pay for is free to you for life.”
In China, people with albinism, who are extremely sensitive to sunlight due to the lack of pigment in their skin, hair, and eyes, are poetically referred to as “moon children”. However, reality paints a less poetic picture for China’s estimated 90,000 albinos, many of whom face subtle discrimination at school and work due to their unique appearance.
Liu Yin, a volunteer with the non-profit organization Moon Children’s Home and an individual with albinism himself, pointed out this discrimination in 2017. Another individual from Jiangsu province shared that his mother never came to terms with his albinism, compelling him to dye his hair black for each visit until she passed away, despite the heightened cancer risk for albinos due to hair dye. This heartwarming encounter, therefore, casts a spotlight on the struggles and resilience of people with albinism in China.
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