Acrobatic boy's "escape plan"
Our reporter/Yang Zhijie
Published in 2021.5.31 Issue No. 997 of China News Weekly.
More than a week after the mass exodus, 15-year-old Huazi returned to school in mid-May. Dressed in his new red and yellow junior high school uniform, he took three exams, in English, history and politics, and couldn't do many of the questions. Before the exam, the teacher specially consoled him, "can do as much as possible to do, can not do it slowly."
May 1, "he headed" of the four Wuqiao acrobatic teenagers in Chengdu during the performance, the collective went missing. Four people, Huazi 15 years old the oldest, younger brother Qiangzi 12 years old, Xiao Xin 14 years old, the youngest small ho only 11 years old. They were sent to Chengdu from Wuqiao, Hebei province, for a commercial performance in late April and encountered a Chengdu agent, Cao Tao, who scared them. The children told the media that Cao Tao did not give them breakfast, practiced until late at night, and punished the four with 500 push-ups for performance errors, and even verbally abused them many times.
(Students training at an acrobatic training center in Wuqiao County in March 2019. Photo/IC)
The intolerable children chose to run away.On May 7, all four were found and brought back to their home in Guizhou by their respective parents. At present, Huazi was arranged by the Bijie City, Guizhou Province, Zhuyuan Township in a local middle school to read the first year, his brother and Xiaohao resumed school in elementary school, Xiaoxin was taken to Guiyang by his mother. All four are not willing to go back to acrobatics, in addition to training hard, Hua Zi told China News Weekly, he is more afraid of going out to perform in the future, "meet the second and third Cao boss."
The child was taken away after the fingerprints were pressed
Bijie is very mountainous, and Huazi's home is on a half-mountain slope, which cuts a platform across the face of the slope, and builds four bungalows. Hua Zi and his brother live in a room, his sister and sister live in a room, his father sleeps in another room, the outermost is the kitchen.
Huazi spoke in a low voice, and answered all the questions in the interview. A township cadre who had contact with Huazi many times also noted that "this child is relatively shy, obedient, and does not refute you". But on the other hand, Huazi and his younger brother ran away from home many times, in the village is known as the "problem youth".
Father Wang Feng found that the eldest son "character is quite good, temperament is quite good, and will not get into trouble, but read a few days to read (out) away. Teachers asked him if he wanted to go to school, he said yes, but after a few days, he left again. For the past four or five years, every few months, he would run away from home with his brother. On the longest occasion, four months passed before he was found by the police station. Each time out of the house without warning, once, Wang Feng in the house washing clothes, he watched Hua Zi took his brother far away, just reacted to chase out, has disappeared.
More often than not, Wang Feng is not at home. His wife ran away for many years, he lived alone with four children, the two divorced last year, the wedding photo in the room has not been removed down. He drives a car and hauls goods and works as a cement worker on weekdays, and if anyone in the surrounding townships has a red and white wedding, he will go over and play the lusheng. Busy with the livelihood has been too much energy, he still did not really ask why his son frequently run away.
(Zhuyuan Township, Bijie City, Guizhou Province, escaped from the home of acrobatic teenager Hua Zi.
Hua Zi remembers that the first time he ran away from home was at the age of 10. At that time, his mother was working outside, he heard that it was in Bijie, not far from Zhuyuan Township, took his brother to find his mother. The two did not know the way, along the highway did not know how far, and finally was brought back by the police. In four or five years, Huazi realized that his mother left them at home regardless, no longer want to find her, but running away from home has become a habit, "feel out quite fun." A lot of times, he and his brother wandering in the mountains, no money, hungry, picking fruit to eat, but also once by picking up garbage for a living.
The two sons let Wang Feng worry a lot, but these children, but the acrobatic troupe's key enrollment target. Wuqiao, an acrobatic troupe practitioners told "China News Weekly", acrobatic training is too hard, Wuqiao local children are almost no longer engaged in acrobatics line, enrollment is difficult in recent years the entire industry is facing difficulties. Acrobatic troupes go to the poor surrounding villages and towns, and even go thousands of miles to the southwest provinces or go to the place where they have contacts to recruit students. A Wuqiao local acrobatic troupes website enrollment notice even explicitly mentioned, for anorexia, truancy, dropout of left-behind children, problematic teenagers and poor children enrollment, so that they "have a skill to integrate into the community after the self-supporting".
In Wuqiao County Vocational Education Center, a teacher in charge of teaching, acrobatic enrollment "has a certain social value". Acrobatics enrollment of children, mostly from single-parent or divorced families, and even some orphans. "Some scholars see the news will be heartbroken children, but the current situation is that the acrobatic troupe to pick up the children, training acrobatic skills, food and housing, parents to reduce the burden. Sensei learns for a few years, and the children will be able to earn money by then, which can alleviate the family's state of poverty. For the family situation of these children, this is a way out for them."
In mid to late June 2020, Gao Wenjun, head of the Variety Acrobatic Circus Troupe in Wuqiao County, Hebei Province, drove to Zhuyuan Township in Guizhou Province with a teacher. He found a local acquaintance as a guarantor to enroll students in the name of "Wuqiao Vocational Education Variety Acrobatics Circus Training Center" and "Wuqiao Vocational Education Variety Acrobatics Circus Martial Arts Dance Training Center". It is understood that Gao Wenjun acrobatic group, half of the children from Guizhou, the remaining half from Henan and Yunnan. Guizhou is an "ideal" birthplace. A local told China News Weekly that every family here has at least two children, and most of the young parents go out to work, leaving the elderly and children in the village. Only some of the children can change their destiny by going to school, while many others repeat the fate of their parents' generation, working in the mountains or going out to work.
The sponsor brought Gao Wenjun to Wang Feng, suggesting that "the children do not listen, you can let them go to this school," he said he had visited the school in Hebei, and the conditions are very good. Wang Feng remembers that Mr. Gao introduced "the children can learn martial arts and acrobatics, food and accommodation, and after graduation package allocation. But he did not agree at first, "I do not know Gao Wenjun". A few days later, the three again door to door lobbying, 11-year-old Qiangzi heard the introduction, crying and said he wanted to enroll. Wang Feng can not stop, because I believe the guarantor, and Gao Wenjun signed the "free student contract", after pressing the handprint, Qiangzi was taken away.
Gao Wenjun also went to another village in Zhuyuan Township. Zheng Qin's family has three children, the sponsor came to the door and told her and her husband, "This is a state-run school, the children can go over to learn dance and acrobatics, learn cultural lessons, food and shelter. If you are willing to go, you can go, if not, forget it." Zheng Qin did not read, do not know acrobatics, even thought it was dancing. For her, sending her children to dance lessons was a luxury. Her village is perched on a hill, and for her children to learn dance, they have to be sent to the nearest county seat in Dafang County, a nearly one-hour drive. And she and her husband have to work odd jobs on weekends, so they don't have the time or the money.
(Exterior view of the involved Wuqiao County Variety Acrobatic Circus. Photography / This reporter Yang Zhijie)
In the end, the oldest is reluctant to leave home to go to a distant northern city, but the second son, 10-year-old Xiao Hao, is impressed. The guarantor read them the terms of the contract, Zheng Qin did not agree, the child is too young, she wanted to stay with, but her husband insisted on signing the contract. Before and after less than two hours, Zheng Qin watched her husband also got into the car of Gao Wenjun, sending her son to Hebei together.
Hua Zi, who stayed at home, ran away twice more. He had proposed to drop out of school to learn to repair the car, Wang Feng gave him a master, less than two months, and ran away. Last September, Huazi returned home, heard that his brother in Hebei is still doing well, took the initiative to want to learn acrobatics. "I said to him, give you a week to think it over, I'll support whatever you want to do." Wang Feng told China News Weekly. A week later, Wang Feng received his son's affirmative answer, he called Gao Wenjun. Not long after, Gao Wenjun once again came to Zhuyuan Township, took Huazi to Wuqiao County to learn acrobatics.
7 months of practice "stirrups"
Wuqiao County is located in the southeastern part of Hebei Province, is located in two provinces (Hebei, Shandong), three cities (Cangzhou, Hengshui, Dezhou) of the junction, driving nearly three days to Zhuyuan Township. The local land since ancient times is barren, people practicing acrobatics, in the agricultural leisure time to go out to sell their skills, known as the "acrobatic township", "Wuqiao acrobatics" was included in the first national intangible cultural heritage on behalf of the directory.
Today, acrobatics is still an important way for local people to make a living. Wuqiao County Culture and Tourism Bureau told China News Weekly that there are more than 300,000 people in Wuqiao County, and according to incomplete statistics, more than 30,000 people are engaged in acrobatic cultural tourism, and there are 97 acrobatic troupes.
In the local community, the difference between running an acrobatic troupe and opening a small restaurant is not much of a business. Most of the acrobatic troupes are self-employed, in their own homes to open up the site of training and training of apprentices. In the local 4A scenic spot "Acrobatic World" nearby, you can see eight or nine acrobatic troupes stores, some stores, there are a few children in the living room to practice basic skills.
More acrobatic troupes are scattered in the county around the village, involving Gao Wenjun's variety of acrobatic circus, is located more than ten kilometers away from the acrobatic world outside the town of Tietown. May 18, "China News Weekly" came to the variety of acrobatic circus, from the outside, just an ordinary family in the countryside, just the street wall is still faded "Wuqiao Acrobatic School" dark red stickers, the "Wuqiao Acrobatic School". Art School" dark red stickers on the street wall, through the window you can see a large practice room. At this time, the house is empty.
At the end of September last year, Hua Zi was first brought here, they call it "old home". Holidays, the acrobatic troupe of thirty or forty students in the old home training. Usually they are in the county Wuqiao County Vocational and Technical Education Center (hereinafter referred to as the Vocational Education Center) to practice acrobatics, Sunday morning and afternoon two language classes.
Every day at 5:30, the children get up to practice basic skills. At first, Huazi watched the others leaning against the wall and standing upside down, and thought the difficulty was no more than that. But it wasn't long before he was introduced to the first program, "Stomping Man," and realized that it was not easy to learn acrobatics. Huazi is old and tall, can only be the "base", lying on the ground to raise the legs, support a person to step on it. Teachers let a child stand up to find the balance, first insisted on 10 minutes, time slowly increased. Every time Hua Zi got up, his clothes were all wet. What worries him more is that the cooperation is not good, the child above falls down to the Hua Zi body, or fall on the ground and hurt himself.
Hua Zi in the acrobatic troupe learned 7 months, in addition to the Spring Festival rest 2 days, he and other children every day in training, about 8:00 pm to sleep. The two days off for the Spring Festival, the children sit in the courtyard of their hometown, the house gossip, can not go out. Gao Wenjun enrollment, had promised to take them to the park, see the scenery, but after everyone arrived, found nowhere to go.
Huazi practiced for seven months "stirrups", and his younger brother Qiangzi, Xiaoxin, Xiaohao is also practicing the cooperative program. The four practiced fast, close to the "May Day" Golden Week, Gao Wenjun decided to let them go to Chengdu to perform, they call it "internship". This was less than a year after they were introduced to acrobatics. A Wuqiao retired acrobatic practitioners told "China News Weekly", go out to perform and learn the length of time has little to do with, "Some people learn more than a year can not take the turn to go to the internship, some people contact a few months to go out. As long as the practice will be something, you have to go out to perform and consolidate, not closed doors, back and forth a few times in order to eventually become an actor."
"Why don't we run?"
On April 20, Gao Wenjun drove himself to Chengdu with his four children, arriving two days later. He gave the children to Cao Tao, the head of Chengdu Wind Wings Culture and Media Co. to manage, and Cao Tao and his wife **** live in the same home in Chenghua District. on April 23, Gao Wenjun left Chengdu.
According to an official investigation by Wuqiao, from April 23 to May 1, the four teenagers were arranged by Cao Tao*** to participate in 10 performances of about 20 minutes each. Huazi remembers that they had gone to the hotel, KTV, celebrations or red and white wedding performances, up to one day, they turned three places in a row.
What drove the four to leave home was Cao Tao's management style. If there is no early show, they get up around 8:00 a.m., and when they get home at night even at 11:00 p.m., the four of them still have to practice until 1:00 a.m., reviewing their programs and doing physical fitness training. Huazi told China News Weekly that during more than a week in Chengdu, Boss Cao never gave them breakfast, and on the day with the most transitions, the four didn't eat all day from morning to night. "So in the third show, Xiao Xin made a mistake and the kid above him fell down, and Boss Cao scolded him backstage after the show." It was explained that he missed because he was too hungry, but Boss Cao's scolding didn't stop. Huazi remembers that night they ate leftover boxed lunches from other people.
On the morning of May 1, Xiao Xin woke up late and was late for the assembly, and was scolded again by Boss Cao all the way on the road. Back home in the afternoon, Xiao Xin secretly said to Huazi, "Why don't we run?" The other two came around, and no one objected. But the whole afternoon Hua Zi was hesitant, he also do not like Cao boss, but the four of them a **** only 200 yuan in cash, it is not enough.
May 1, more than 8 p.m., Cao Tao went out to drink, leaving the four and his son and daughter at home, told them to continue to practice. "Then Boss Cao seemed to forget something and came up to see us not practicing, and cursed us again." This made Huazi determined to flee, and again Xiao Xin suggested escape, to which all three agreed. Not long after, they opened the door and ran out.
At first, the four went forward along a large road. Some people were worried that the target was too big and proposed to split into two teams. At the request of Xiaoxin, the older Hua Zi and Xiaoxin together, his younger brother Qiang Zi and Xiaohao together, each take 100 yuan, "Xiaoxin think my brother and I have experience in running away, can lead the team separately." At an intersection, the two teams parted ways. Huazi said that not long after, he regretted separating from his brother. But in this unfamiliar city, the other two little friends like raindrops falling into the water, it has long been difficult to find traces.
Members of the Dachuan Rescue Team who assisted in finding the children had told the New Beijing News that they had seen, through surveillance, that Qiangzi and Xiaohao had stayed up all night that night, running wildly for more than 10 kilometers toward the southwest and walking to a shopping mall near Chengdu South Railway Station. During the day they ran and played in the mall, tired to lie down and sleep, the afternoon out of the mall, bought an ice-cream, one person a mouthful, continue to the south. Huazi and Xiaoxin, on the other hand, took the bus to the Shuangliu airport nearby, and found a park to rest that night. Xiao Xin had thought of walking back to Guizhou, but did not know the way, they wandered on the road, looking for a park to sleep at night, all the money used to buy water and bread. On the fifth day, all the money spent on the body, Hua Zi two began to turn the roadside garbage looking for food.
May 3, 7 am, Zheng Qin received a call from the police, only to know that his son lost in Chengdu. She was even more confused, Xiao Hao obviously in Hebei school, how to run to Sichuan. She mobilized the whole family to drive to Chengdu, posting notices all over the place, following the surveillance, looking for his son in various parks.
On the night of May 6, Huazi and Xiaoxin walked in a square, was found by two plainclothes police. 7 May afternoon, Xiaohao and Qiangzi was found near a park. Zheng Qin recalled that when he saw his son, he looked like he had just come out of the garbage, covered with red bags bitten by mosquitoes.
The contemporary plight of the traditional line
(May 19, Wuqiao scenic "acrobatic world" in a folk acrobatic troupe, trainees are practicing basic skills.
On November 2, 2019, in the context of the national encouragement of the development of vocational education, in order to inherit the acrobatic culture, to enhance the cultural level of acrobats, Wuqiao County set up the acrobatic vocational education alliance (hereinafter referred to as the acrobatic alliance), and the formulation of the "Wuqiao acrobatic vocational education alliance charter", which provides for the vocational education center of Wuqiao County and the folk acrobatic school group to carry out school-enterprise cooperation. Cooperation.
In the acrobatic alliance, the acrobatic troupe recruits acrobatic apprentices on its own, and is solely responsible for the daily management of room and board, professional teaching and internship training, etc. The Vocational Education Center is responsible for the school registration and cultural teaching, and registers the eligible acrobatic apprentices for the school registration. The two sides do not charge any fees for the recruited students. The two sides have three modes of cooperation, respectively, the alliance of the school groups will be sent to the VTC unified training, unified internship training; teaching training organized by the VTC, internship training organized by the school groups themselves; cultural courses by the VTC "sent to the countryside", the school groups to organize their own internship training.
It is understood that at present, the local acrobatic league to join the acrobatic group of only 10, Gao Wenjun acrobatic group voluntarily applied for membership, the choice of the second mode of cooperation. The school mentioned in his enrollment, is the Vocational Education Center, Vocational Education Center for acrobatic troupes to provide a special dormitory and teaching space training, to give them cultural classes.
The teacher of the above vocational education center, learning acrobatics children are more special, poor foundation, if strictly in accordance with the normal primary and secondary school standards of cultural classes, "it would be too difficult for them". Some children 12 years old normal school age should be in junior high school, but to explain the junior high school curriculum, they simply do not understand. Therefore, for the Acrobatic Union students, the school to the third grade as the dividing line, the foundation of the poor children on the third grade below the curriculum, learning pinyin, teaching Arabic numerals and addition and subtraction. Students with a good foundation attend classes above the third grade, teaching reading and writing, addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and fractions. There is a basic public **** class every evening, which includes life skills, acrobatics, sports and dance, and cultural classes on Saturday and Sunday. But Huazi's account differed from this teacher, who told the media that only two classes in the morning and afternoon on Sundays were studying language, and the rest of the time was spent practicing acrobatics.
Of the four teenagers who ran away, all three were in the first class to enroll in 2020, in addition to Huazi, who enrolled late and did not have a school registration, and their first time out, something went terribly wrong. "For the headmaster personally, in this incident, he did not supervise the safety of the children in place, go out to perform, the headmaster, as a guardian, did not accompany the whole process." Wuqiao County Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau relevant responsible person pointed out to the China News Weekly.
May 18, "China News Weekly" reporter met Gao Wenjun in Tiecheng Town, he is nearly 60 years old, saw the reporter, showing chagrin. At present, the acrobatic troupe of more than 40 children, registered students have been taken away by the Vocational Education Center, there are still a few did not go to school, temporarily stay at home waiting for notice. He said, he "got into trouble", is currently under investigation.
Enrollment, Gao Wenjun to "Wuqiao Vocational Education General Acrobatics Circus Training Center" "Wuqiao Vocational Education General Acrobatics Circus Wushu Dance Training Center" in the name of the parents to sign a "free student contract". However, the investigation team found that Gao Wenjun used the seal of the above institutions, not in Wuqiao County Public Security Bureau for the record, the name of the national social organization credit information platform (trial run) and Hebei economic household management system can not be found registration information.
At present, the county public security departments of Gao Wenjun suspected of performing safety supervision duties are not in place, as well as private carving, trading seals and other issues to investigate, give admonition, ordered to repent, seized privately engraved seals. The Bureau of Culture, Radio and Tourism suspended the Variety Acrobatics Troupe's "business performance license", ordered to stop and rectify. The acrobatic troupe was also cleared out of the acrobatic union, by the Union proper placement of school students.
The acrobatic union school-enterprise cooperation model has also been criticized. The official briefing pointed out that the vocational education center in the process of school-enterprise cooperation, the cooperation of the acrobatic troupe of students enrolled in the management of the supervision of the lack of students in moral education, there are omissions. Responsible for the overall work of the vocational education center of the executive vice president Zhang Honglu was suspended for inspection.
After this incident, in addition to the development of the reporting system, Wuqiao Culture, Broadcasting and Tourism Bureau in the original regular inspection on the basis of increased frequency of acrobatic troupes, one is to regulate the training, and the second is the process of rehearsal, to improve the safety supervision, the teacher to follow the child at all times to increase the supervisor's safety education, and the training equipment should be replaced in a timely manner.
In addition, Gao Wenjun has mentioned that sending children to Chengdu is an internship practical training, but Huazidu noticed that after their performances, Cao Tao are charged thousands of dollars of performance fees. The person in charge of the above-mentioned Culture, Broadcasting and Tourism Bureau mentioned that, according to the regulations, school students can go out for internship practical training, but not allowed to perform commercial performances. Chengdu side is a commercial performance, need to be defined by the local culture and tourism departments, Wuqiao County investigation team is also on the matter of further investigation.
For the acrobatics of this kind of traditional line, the extreme hard training and even physical punishment of the devil training mode is no change? Training should start with the dolls, but how to avoid the dolls in the unprotected to become a commercial show of money-making tools? These issues have not received enough attention within the industry.
Zheng Qin is not willing to send his children to learn acrobatics, "free student contract" mentioned in the 100,000 yuan of liquidated damages, became her burden. A Wuqiao local acrobatic practitioners told "China News Weekly", in the contract written on the liquidated damages, in the local is very common, some chiefs are worried about the children learn a few years to run away, or by other acrobatic troupes to poach will write this, mainly as a deterrent, very few people will really want the money. In addition, Gao Wenjun suspected of private seal, the two sides signed the contract is not valid.
With Zheng Qin's attitude is very different, Hua Zi's father Wang Feng does not blame Gao Wenjun. In the second half of last year, he had gone to Wuqiao to see the two children, understanding that learning acrobatics is very hard, he thought Gao Wenjun training methods no problem. He is not looking for free, if the child likes, someone can discipline the child and teach him a skill, even if the payment he is willing. At present, the two sons have resumed school in the local school, Wang Feng told China News Weekly, if the child is willing, he will still agree to send them to learn acrobatics again, but the premise is to respect the child's wishes.
(To protect the privacy of the interviewees, Wang Feng and Zheng Qin are pseudonyms)