THE MAN IN THE IRON CAGE

In Zhucuopu Village a 52 year old mental patient, Chen Zhisheng, lives in a cage. Known in the village for violent outbursts that eventually drove away his wife and children, Chen was just an unpredicatable pain in the butt until last year when he walked out of his house, saw a 70 year old guy who shares the same name, and beat him to death. A woman tried to intervene and he beat her badly as well.

Because he's mentally ill he couldn't be sent to prison, and no one in the village could afford to send him to a mental institution so they pooled their money and built a cage. Now Chen lives in the cage full time. His cousin, Lao Wu, takes care of him, and he receives a 100 yuan a month subsidy for food and supplies. That should have been the end of things, but instead something odd happened: Chen became a celebrity.

The word got out that Chen could predict special lottery numbers for people who illegally played the Hong Kong lottery. His odd behavior was thought to be rife with mysterious clues that had to be interpreted. One man gave him a 50 yuan note for some tips, Chen tore it in half, and the man said, "Ah ha! The special number is 25." He played 25 and won. Chen's visitors come from far and wide, poring over his behavior and trying to convert it into lottery numbers. Sometimes they win, sometimes they don't, but they keep on coming.

You can read the whole story, with pictures, over on the magical East South West North blog.