During the day, Huang Doudou looks like a normal 7-year-old girl, but seeing her perform at her night job, wearing excessive makeup and dressed inappropriately, you’d think she was twice her age.
Huang Doudou, a primary school student from Urumqi, China, has recently caused controversy in Chinese media, after her shocking story became viral. The 7-year-old lives with her parents in a room just 12-square-meters in size. Her mother has a crippled left leg and tries to support the family by peddling in the streets and babysitting, while her father, who suffers from a serious stomach condition, can only do light jobs. They barely managed to make ends meet every month, so young Huang Doudou stepped in and decided to use her dance skills to contribute to the family budget and pay for her dancing tuition.
While she may look as normal as any of the other girls attending 2nd grade at the Urumqi no.8 primary school, during the night little Huang Doudou puts on a provocative dance costume and puts on lots of makeup for her performance at a local hotpot restaurant. She dances on a small stage in front of customers three rounds per night, four nights a week, and earns only 800 yuan ($125) per month. Between shows, Doudou and her mother rest on flower pots in the restaurant, waiting for the next round. The young dancer usually ends her performance around 10 pm, changes outfits, puts on her school backpack and walks home, where she eats dinner and does her homework. She rarely goes to bed before 11 pm…
Asked what her biggest wish was, Doudou answered she always wanted to go to the cinema. Her mother had won a ticket in a text messaging contest, but by the time they managed to get to the cinema, they said their tickets were expired…
Huang Doudou’s story made headlines because of her young age, but there are thousands of Chinese children forced to do all kinds of inappropriate things for their age, in order to help their families survive.
