Photo Essay: A Living Dug Out of the Mud
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In the early morning, the lotus diggers walk towards the lake with their tools: a shoulder pole, a spade, and a piece of plastic sheeting. They use the simplest as well as the most primitive tools to dig out the roots. Extremely long, these roots are invariably hiding at the deepest parts of the lake, requiring skill and strength to haul onto land.
Through the morning fog, the trees in the distance are precisely spaced like the teeth of a comb. A line of people passes by on the narrow riverbank, leaving their reflections on the water. If you didn’t know better, you might mistake the scene for an outing. But in fact, these are lotus root diggers who woke up early, grabbed their tools and headed en masse towards Tuan Lake.
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