A 59-year-old Chinese woman has let her hair grow for 35 years because she believes long hair will help her achieve health and longevity.
Gu Meiying, from Yunnan, southwest China, recently showcased her hair, which measured more than eight feet long, to Chinese media. It had matted together to form a single braid.
The real-life Rapunzel now hopes to become a Guinness World Record holder with her extraordinary mane, reported People's Daily Online.
According to reports, Gu Meiying started growing her hair in 1980 when she was just 24 years old.
Initially, she tied her hair behind her back when she worked as a farmer.
Later, when her hair became too long, it matted together to form a single braid and can no longer be separated.
She then started wearing her hair in a nest above her head or wrapped around her waist.
Her eight foot locks can wrap around her head more than five times and forms a three-loop belt around her waist.
The farmer believes that long hair will help her achieve better health and longevity.
She said: 'I always treat my long braid like a treasure and talisman. I think growing hair is like maintaining life so I haven't cut it.'
Gu Meiying is of the Miao ethnic minority, one of China's 56 recognised ethnic minorities.
Their cultural habits vary according to tribes but many, like Gu Meiying, believe that their hair is related to their life line and will only cut their hair once in their life.
Some are said to collect the hair they lose every day in a bunch and wear it on their heads.
One tribe, known as Long Horn Miao, even keep the hairs of their ancestors to fashion into elaborate head-dresses for festivals.
Despite the impressive length of Gu Meiying's hair, she has a long way to reach a Guinness World Record.
The record is currently held by a Chinese woman named Xie Qiuping. In 2004 when the record was established, Xie Qiuping had 18 feet of hair on her head.
Although Gu Meiying claims her hair doesn't stop her from working, she does find washing it difficult.
Each time she washes her hair, it takes around a week for the mass to dry out completely.
(dailymail.co.uk)
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