Staying the course as a Chongqing "bangbang man"

Ran Guanghui, 50, hit the road before dawn with a sturdy bamboo pole slung over his shoulder, on which he had tied a 15-kg bundle of clothes and daily necessities with hemp cords, slogging up steep roads to make his delivery.

He is one of the iconic itinerant porters in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, a group of freelance manual laborers given the nickname of "bangbang" after their tools in the local dialect.

Shouldering heavy loads ranging from food to household appliances and furniture, the bangbang men usually migrate from rural areas and wander along the streets to solicit business at railway stations, ports, wholesale markets and other crowded places.

Ran has been the mainstay of his family over the past 11 years, working 12 hours a day and some 350 days a year.

For him, the burden of life lies concretely on his shoulders. The bangbang man earns about 10 yuan (about 1.4 U.S. dollars) for carrying one package, regardless of its weight that ranges from a dozen kilograms to hundreds.

Ran's diligence and integrity gained him a firm foothold both in his business and in the city. Through years of hard work, Ran and his wife bought a small apartment in downtown Chongqing that cost him more than 400,000 yuan, equivalent to his earnings from shouldering 40,000 packages.

Ran Junchao, Ran Guanghui's son, who is a freshman at a local junior high school, was once at his father's side while his father was hauling loads up and down, and would help his father carry goods in his spare time when he grew up.

"I don't know how much money my father earns, the only thing I know is that he supports the family," Ran Junchao said, adding that he is confident in his ability to live a decent life through hard work.

In recent years, many bangbang men are bidding farewell to their old profession and seeking better paid, more forgiving work as modern logistics, transportation and online shopping have made the backbreaking job less attractive.

Ran Guanghui, however, chooses to stay the course.

"Although there are fewer orders than before, I will work as a bangbang man as long as I've got the strength," he said.

However, Ran Junchao hopes his father can retire early. "My wish is to grow up soon to support my family, so that my parents will be able to enjoy their lives.

(CHINA.ORG.CN)