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The Sichuan Diaries: A China Journey
Follow along and interact with Tribune correspondent Evan Osnos as he ventures across China’s vast heartland: chicagotribune.com/chinajourney
As part of his blog from the road, Osnos is answering readers’ questions, such as this one from someone intrigued by a waitress who told Osnos that short people suffer discrimination in China.
Nick asks: “Would it really be harder for someone who’s 4’11” to find gainful employment than someone taller?”
Evan: This was a surprise to me when I first got here, but there are a number of ways that China categorizes people based on height. Some acting schools, for instance, tell women not to apply if they are under 5 feet 3. Hiring agents for sales positions explicitly list height as a criterion for consideration, along with age and appearance. There are some doctors who perform a medieval kind of bonelengthening procedure, which involves leg braces and some surgically broken legs, but newspapers have been running stories urging people to avoid it. But everyone of humble stature also finds comfort in the story of Deng Xiaoping, a Sichuan son who stood barely 5 feet tall and rose to become China’s paramount leader.