At their peak in the 1990s, as rural migrants flooded the city, the ranks of “bang bang jun” were estimated at between 300,000 and 500,000.
Today, their numbers have dwindled to just a few thousand, according to various reports – a decline driven by better roads, delivery apps and the simple fact that few young people want the work.
Xu did not start out as a porter. “At the beginning, I was shining shoes, together with fellow villagers,” he told CNA.
The earlier roads were unpaved, thick with mud.
“The roads were terrible back then. That’s why the shoe-shining business was good at the time. Shoes got dirty easily.”
Later, as wholesale markets grew and shops couldn’t deliver fast enough, he switched to carrying goods.
The city he entered was unrecognisable from today. Major malls like Grand Ronghui and Shengming had not been built.
Liangjiang, now a sprawling state-backed development zone, was not yet on the map.
As a porter, this meant long days of backbreaking work, he recalled.
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