Yangon, Myanmar (CNN) ——Aye Aye Thein, 55, cuts hair for a living at Insein market in the north of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city.

　　仰光，缅甸(CNN电)——永盛市场坐落在缅甸最大城市仰光的北部，现年55岁的埃埃登在这里靠剪头发为生。

　　But unlike most hairdressers, she doesn’t charge her customers. Instead, she pays them.

　　和大多数理发师不同的是，她不向顾客收取剪发费用，相反，她还付钱给他们。

　　The country is a major source of human hair, feeding the global demand for wigs, weaves and hair extensions.

　　缅甸是人发的主要来源国，满足着全球对假发和织和头发延伸品等产品的需求。

　　"Myanmar hair is the softest, most sought-after hair in Asia," said Aye Aye Thein, whose hair stall is nestled between those of a greengrocer and a betel nut seller.

　　埃埃登的剪发摊位坐落在蔬菜水果店和槟榔商店之间，她说：“在亚洲各国人的头发中，缅甸人的头发最柔软，最受欢迎。”

　　Figures suggest the global trade in human hair was worth $87.4 million in 2016, with Myanmar the third largest exporter after India and Tunisia.

　　数据显示，2016年全球人发贸易额高达8740万美元(约合5.5亿元人民币)，缅甸是全球第三大头发出口国，仅次于印度和突尼斯。

　　In Myanmar, hair can be considered sacred: The gilded Shwedagon Pagoda, one of the Buddhist country’s holiest sites, is believed to be built on strands of Buddha’s hair.

　　在缅甸，人们认为头发是神圣的：金碧辉煌的仰光大金塔是缅甸最神圣的地标建筑，据说该塔就是建立在佛祖的头发之上。

　　But it’s also common for women here to cut their hair to make ends meet and during Buddhist New Year celebrations, when some women and girls become nuns for a short time and cutting off their hair shows an absolute sacrifice, a detachment from any distractions.

　　但在这里，女性剪掉头发补贴家用也是很常见的，在泼水节的庆祝活动中，一些妇女和女孩会在短时间内成为修女，她们会剪掉头发，这显示了一种绝对的虔诚，超脱于任何干扰。

　　Much of this hair makes its way to China, where it’s processed and sold to hairstylists in the West. But as Myanmar grows richer, opening up after decades of military rule, there are fears that fewer women are willing to part with their locks.

　　这些头发大部分都流入了中国，在那里加工后，再卖给西方的发型师。不过，随着缅甸越来越富裕，在长达几十年的军事统治之后走向开放，人们担心愿意剪掉头发的缅甸女性会越来越少。

　　Costs

　　成本

　　The pricing of hair depends on the quality and weight, which is weighed in "viss," a traditional Burmese unit of measurement, roughly equal to 1? kilograms.

　　头发的定价取决于其质量和重量，缅甸传统的重量测量单位是“非斯”，每“非斯”大约相当于1.5公斤。

　　Huddled over a battered pair of scales, Aye Aye Thein estimates the price of hair by its feel and a simple scrape of the bundle with an open scissor arm to test for firmness and smoothness.

　　埃埃登把头发挤压放在一个破旧的称上，通过手感估计头发的价格，并用剪刀剪下一束头发，来测试其硬度和光滑度。

　　Placing the hair on the scales, she then measures it in viss with small weights before handing over a wad of money to a customer.

　　她把头发放在称上，用小的砝码测量出重量，然后把一笔钱交给顾客。

　　Most transactions range from 15,000 kyat ($11) to over 200,000 kyat ($150) for hair over 10 inches. This income goes a long way in Myanmar, where the minimum wage is 3,600 kyat ($2.70) a day. The hair that fetches the highest price is usually from women with ankle-length hair whose locks can be divided into many bundles to be sold individually.

　　长度超过10英寸(约合25厘米)的头发价格在1.5万缅元(约合11美元)到20万缅元(约合150美元)之间。在缅甸，这笔钱需要很长时间才能挣到，因为那里的最低工资为一天3600缅元(约合2.7美元)。有些女性的头发长到脚踝，通常可以卖到最高的价钱。她们的头发可以分成多束，分开出售。

　　Men occasionally grow their hair to sell it but it’s not common -- although buyers don’t discriminate between male and female hair.

　　男性偶尔也会把头发留长卖掉，但这并不常见——尽管对于买家来说，男女的头发没有分别。

　　Making ends meet

　　贴补家用

　　Buyers at Insein market say the reasons women want to sell their hair vary. For many, it’s a much-needed infusion of cash -- whether to save for a house, repay loans or simply have some pocket change.

　　永盛市场的头发买家说，缅甸女性想要出售头发的原因多种多样。对很多人来说，这是一笔可以应急的现金——可以用于买房、偿还贷款或放在手上零花。

　　漂漂是一名21岁的学生，她说她想卖掉头发是“因为长头发实在太热了。”

　　She says that with the $45 she made for her long black locks, she will save some, buy clothes with some and donate the rest to the Buddhist monks who weave their way through the city each morning to collect alms.

　　她一头乌黑的长发卖了45美元(约285元人民币)。这一笔钱她会存下一部分，买一些衣服，剩下的捐给每天早晨在城市里穿行收集救济品的僧侣。

　　In the western region of Rakhine, Myanmar’s second-poorest state, which has been riven by communal violence, the hair trade is seen as a reliable form of income in uncertain times.

　　若开邦是缅甸第二贫困的邦，该邦的西部地区饱受暴力困扰。人们认为在动荡时期，头发交易是一种可靠的收入形式。

　　Khaing Yu Swe, of the state capital Sittwe, entered the hair trading market 17 years ago: "Before, I did weaving, but buying raw materials was very expensive, and the profit could not cover my family’s basic needs."

　　来自实兑州首府的凯友瑞17年前进入头发交易市场，他说：“在此之前，我从事编织行业，但购买原材料非常昂贵，获得的利润不足以满足家庭的基本需求。”

　　Anthropologist Emma Tarlo, author of "Entanglement: The Secret Lives of Hair," says the trade has always relied on a mixture of poor women selling their hair and religious donations.

　　《纠缠：头发的秘密生活》一书的作者、人类学家埃玛?塔洛表示：“缅甸有很多长发女性，因为太过贫穷而不得不卖掉自己的头发。”

　　"The fact that Myanmar contains large numbers of long-haired women poor enough to be willing to sell their hair is an important factor," she said.

　　她说:“缅甸有许多长发妇女，她们太穷了，愿意出售头发，这是一个重要因素。”

　　A selfless act

　　一种无私的行为

　　During the Buddhist new year celebration, Thingyan, which usually falls in April, many women and girls choose to cut off their hair and become nuns for about 10 days.

　　缅甸的泼水节通常在4月，期间许多妇女和女孩会剪掉头发，当10天左右的尼姑。

　　Yuzana Nyani, a nun, says that this act of selflessness and dedication to Buddhist meditation is a form of making merit to reach Nirvana.

　　一名修女玉扎纳尼说，这种无私奉献和对佛教冥想的奉献精神是达到涅槃的一种方式。

　　May Thet Chayay, 12, chose to become a nun show her parents that she is a good Buddhist.

　　12岁的德差若然选择当尼姑，她给父母展示自己是一个好教徒。

　　"We don’t need [hair], really," she said. "It feels good. I feel free. You should try it."

　　她说：“我们真的不需头发，没有头发感觉很好，我觉得很自由。你们也应该尝试一下。”

　　Demand outstrips supply

　　供不应求

　　Traders in Yangon and Mandalay, a city in the north of Myanmar where hair sorting is big business, worry that demand is outstripping supply.

　　曼德勒是缅甸北部的一个城市，在那里头发分拣是一项大生意。仰光和曼德勒的贸易商们担心头发市场供不应求。

　　"Before, I could just collect the hair myself from women in the city, but now I need to buy more hair from Bangladesh and other countries to mix with Myanmar hair," said Htay Win, a hair merchant in Mandalay who has been in the industry for seven years.

　　泰温是曼德勒的一位商人，已经在头发行业工作7年。他说：“之前，我只需要在本市收集女性的头发就行。但现在，我需要从孟加拉国和其他国家购买更多的头发混在缅甸的头发里。”

　　Htay Win is confident that the market will keep booming, although he is concerned about the shortage of good-quality hair. "It is getting harder and harder to buy long enough hair of 50 inches, because women are now choosing to cut their hair shorter and shorter."

　　泰温相信头发市场会继续繁荣下去，但也担心高质量头发供不应求。他说：“购买50英寸(合1.27米)长的头发越来越难了，因为现在女性选择留更短的头发。”

　　He adds that the quest to find virgin or untreated hair is also becoming more challenging. "Women now are dyeing their hair, which affects the price."

　　他补充说，寻找纯天然的或未经处理的头发也变得更难了。“现在女性染头发，这对价格也有影响。”

　　Tarlo says the trade is not likely to collapse anytime soon, given Myanmar’s relative poverty."People are getting wealthier, trendier, more concerned with their appearances and so forth," she said. However, "when you look at historical sources, you find that even in the 19th century, hair collectors were always complaining that hair supplies were running out."

　　塔洛认为，由于缅甸经济比较贫穷，头发贸易行业暂时不会崩溃。但她也表示：“人们变得越来越富裕，也愈加注重外表打扮。查阅历史资料时，你会发现即使在19世纪，头发收集者也总是在抱怨头发供应量已经殆尽。”