85-Year-Old Vietnamese Man Hasn’t Cut His Hair in 70 Years

85-year-old Nguyen Van Chien, from Vietnam’s southern province of Tien Giang, hasn’t had a haircut since he was in the 12th grade, 70 years ago. As a result, his hair now 4-meters-long and weight 2 kilograms.

Even as a young boy, Nguyen Van Chien liked to let his hair grow long. He would braided it into a bun on top of his head to keep it from interfering with his daily activities, but one day, while he was in the 12th grade, his teachers advised him to cut his hair. He took their advice, but as soon as he got a haircut, he started experiencing a strange pain that not even painkillers could make go away. Before he cut his hair the man had had no health problems, not even a common flu, so he decided to let his hair grow, and never cut it again. It’s been 70 years since he made the decision, and now his “dragon tail”, as he calls his hair measured around 4 meters long and weighs over 2 kilograms.

Although Nguyen Van Chien is determined to never cut his hair again, it has caused him some inconveniences throughout the years. As the dragon tail grew, even washing it became an issue because it took so long to dry that he started getting headaches, colds and dizziness, so he decided to stop washing it as well. For the last 30 years, the Vietnamese Buddhist has never washed his hair. Instead, to combat the itchiness of the scalp, he rubs oil at the base of the hair, and rinses his head with water, careful not to wet too much of his “tail”. He also has problems moving around and gardening with over 2 kg of hair on his head, but he’s not considering cutting it again.

But the hair isn’t the only thing that makes this Vietnamese gentleman special. At 85 years of age, Nguyen Van Chien has an enviable health, and is able to read and cross a piece of thread through a needle without using glasses. He’s also able to perform exhausting tasks like chopping wood and working in his vegetable garden. The secret to his well-being is sometimes attributed to his long hair, while others say it’s his fruit and vegetable-only menu, or the fact that he only eats once a day, at noon. Whatever it is, this guy is doing something right.

While his dragon tail is certainly impressive, it’s quite short compared to the hair of Tran Van Hay, also from Vietnam. His locks were over 6 meter long and weighed over 10 kilos. Sadly, he died two years ago, at the age of 79.