It is a condition which has resulted in little Liu Jiangli going through more trauma in her six years than most people do in a lifetime.
The schoolgirl was born with a coating of coarse black fur on her face and across more than 60 per cent of her body. But if that was not bad enough, worse was to follow.
with a coating of coarse black fur on her face and across more than 60 per cent of her body
Because of her rare condition - which effects just one in a billion people - she was abandoned by both of her parents.
At just two-years-old her mother left the family home and shortly afterwards her father took her to nursery and never returned for her.
The nursery made newspaper announcements asking for the toddler’s relatives to claim her, and six months later the grandfather of one of her cousins came forward.
Liu Mingying has looked after Liu - from Guiyang city in southwest China's Guizhou province - ever since.
However, he worries she will always be taunted about her appearance. The youngster has been unable to make friends as other children are either frightened of her or make fun of her.
There is currently no official explanation for Liu’s condition. However, it is very similar to a syndrome known as Hypertrichosis Universalis, which leaves sufferers covered entirely in body hair and affects just one in a billion people.
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