Silent witness to vanishing worlds

In 2002, Ma Hongjie climbed into an open freight car with a group of street monkey performers and began a three-day journey to Chengdu, Sichuan province.

The men carried steamed buns, water and the trained monkeys that earned them a living — practitioners of shuahou, a centuries-old itinerant folk trade centered in Henan province where villagers historically relied on monkey street theater to survive poverty.

At night, Ma curled up beside them in the exposed carriage as the cold cut through their clothes. By day, he followed them from one street corner to another. They slept under bridges and ate noodles boiled in plain water.

The performers were always moving and often being driven away. Before heading home, they mailed back nearly every yuan they had earned, afraid it might be stolen, confiscated in fines or otherwise lost.

Ma had first noticed several monkey performers while riding through his native Henan province in 2001. He turned his motorcycle around and asked to join them on the road. They did not believe him. He looked too clean and too unprepared for the hardship.

When Ma later reached their home village, residents refused to tell him where the performers lived. He returned day after day, talking with locals until one of the men, Yang Lingui, finally agreed to take him along.