From the People’s Daily app.

This is Story in the Story.

On Xishan Hill, a small and isolated mountain just outside of Yunnan’s capital city of Kunming, over 100 dwarves live and work at what could be the only theme park in the world dedicated to little people.

Founded in 2009 by real estate mogul Cheng Mingjing, he was inspired to help after he saw dwarf beggars performing at a railway station.

Chen wanted to provide a haven for the country’s dwarves who are often abused and neglected.

The long-term goal is to provide employment and homes for 1,000 little people.

“I hope the kingdom can help them live better lives. They can spend the rest of their lives here if they like," said Chen. 

Today’s Story in the Story looks inside a village where China’s dwarves live and work in harmony while performing for visitors from all parts of China and the world. 

Performers at the Kingdom of the Little People in Kunming dance in front of a screen showing a computer-generated animation of block people replicating the choreography of the music video for the Korean pop hit Gangnam Style. (Photo: China Daily)

“Welcome to the Kingdom of the Little People,” reads a sign at the entrance to the the World Eco Garden of Butterflies and the Dwarf Empire.

Wu Zimin, 44, presides over this unique empire.

At 10 am every day, he arrives at a mushroom-like castle, accompanied by an entourage whose members are all roughly the same height as him: 80 centimeters.

For an hour in the morning and again in the afternoon, they sing, dance, perform magic tricks, acrobatic stunts, and short plays for visitors from all over the world.

A beggar since the age of 8, Wu said he never thought he would survive another three decades, let alone play a "king" someday.

The dwarves are assigned jobs based on their capabilities. Some are tasked with performing, while others run the canteen, make silk flowers, or work as tour guides.

Everything inside the park is customized to meet their needs, including the size of their pet dogs.

70 percent of the park's employees once lived as vagrants or were confined indoors.  Now, they earn a salary and have a place to call home.

A native of Xiangfan, Hubei Province, Yi's father, also a dwarf, supported and encouraged his son until his untimely death in a traffic accident years ago.

Afterward, Yi dropped out of middle school and joined a performance troupe, but later ran away.

When he was on his own, he discovered there were few jobs available for people like him. Only the lucky ones found work at government-funded factories explicitly built for the disabled, while others performed in circuses, which Yi tried but failed.  

Confined to his house, Yi faced scorn from his neighbors and strangers would always stare at him when he ventured outside.

Desperate and despondent, Yi finally found hope when he discovered the dwarf kingdom in Kunming. 

The "Dwarf Empire", a theme park in Kunming, offers about 100 jobs to little people and helps them live better lives. (Photo: China Daily)

Yi says living with other dwarves makes him feel secure and more importantly, has given him a sense of dignity.

Becoming a confident performer is not easy for people like Yi, who have endured years of abuse, said Wu Wei, the park’s recruiter, and counselor.

Wang Yuanping, the park’s performance director, said, "They perform from the heart. Although their capabilities might be limited, they show a long-suppressed passion.”

Media outlets have lauded performers' slapstick takes on Swan Lake and the breakdancing by a leather-clad dwarf with a crimson mohawk.

"It is not bad," said performer Chen Zhimei.

The 20-year-old considers herself fortunate to have completed middle school, given commonplace bias against her peers in education and employment sectors.

As she explained, here, she is applauded, while elsewhere, she is taunted. She is happy to have a job - something few of the park's little people could find - and especially to live and work with peers.

"I did not meet people like me before," 20-year-old Guiyang native Yang Qianguo said, "Now, I live among them. We are family. We are a community. I never imagined this."

They earn stable salaries, receive free room and board and are provided with English language classes.

Meanwhile, some have found their true love here.

Wu Chunhong fell in love with fellow performer A Xiong, and eventually, they got married.

"We want to show how this group can be self-reliant, and the importance of respecting all human beings," said Wang Mantang, executive chairman of the World Peace Foundation.  

"The staff here are not just subsidized, but are making a living through their efforts," Wang explained.

As Wu tells everyone who first arrives at the dwarf kingdom, "Shortness is just about your physique. You can be a giant in your mind.”

(Produced by Nancy Yan Xu, Lance Crayon, Brian Lowe and Da Hang. Music by: bensound.com. Text from China Daily.)