Over a year ago as I crossed the road at a familiar intersection in Zhuhai's Gongbei subdistrict, I looked down and to my surprise saw three monkeys crossing the road as well.
Near the same intersection two hours later, I saw a sizable crowd had gathered to watch the monkeys perform a show.
This month in Zhuhai's Nanping Town, I once again saw monkeys performing for a human crowd.
As I watched, I wondered about the lives of both the monkeys and their masters.
I am reminded of these performances and others I have seen in China by a powerful photo essay on ifeng.com (in Chinese; photos say much on their own; HT Chris Buckley). Beginning in 2002, Hongjie Ma's photographs capture a period of 12 years in the lives of performing monkeys and their masters from Henan province. Neither the monkeys nor the humans appear to have had easy lives. And they lived them together.
Near the same intersection two hours later, I saw a sizable crowd had gathered to watch the monkeys perform a show.
This month in Zhuhai's Nanping Town, I once again saw monkeys performing for a human crowd.
As I watched, I wondered about the lives of both the monkeys and their masters.
I am reminded of these performances and others I have seen in China by a powerful photo essay on ifeng.com (in Chinese; photos say much on their own; HT Chris Buckley). Beginning in 2002, Hongjie Ma's photographs capture a period of 12 years in the lives of performing monkeys and their masters from Henan province. Neither the monkeys nor the humans appear to have had easy lives. And they lived them together.
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