I Spent a Day With China's Last Human Porters

[00:00:00]China is advancing at an alarming rate.

[00:00:02]Some of its centuries-old ways of life are becoming extinct. These men have been doing this job since before I was born, but in just 4 years, they're going to be unemployed.

[00:00:13]Oh, and welcome to the world's largest city.

[00:00:19]Welcome to Chongqing, a city you might recognize from the influx of influencers pouring through to capture its best side. But beneath the bright lights, Chongqing has an invisible hero, the bang-bang man. Named after the bamboo pole slung across their shoulders, these porters were once half a million [music] strong. Today, there are less than 2,000 of them, and by 2030, it's estimated that this job [music] will be gone entirely. Before they disappear, I want to meet them.

[00:00:49]So, come with [music] me into the gritty underbelly of Chongqing, side by side with China's last [music] bang-bang men.

[00:00:57]And we are joined today, once again, by the wonderful Hong Lin, who is, still for some reason, not sick of me.

[00:01:07]How can you tolerate me this much?

[00:01:09]>> It's a good adventure.

[00:01:10]>> It's a good adventure for us. We've come down to the dock here in Chongqing. You can see behind me Raffles City, the hotel apartment mall complex finished in 2020, and in stark contrast, the gritty wholesale market and dock, which we're going to go and check out. Yesterday, we met a man called Mr. Lee, a man who many years ago served in the Chinese army, and now makes his money as a bang-bang man here on the streets, making about 10 to 20 dollars a day.

[00:01:41]We're going to see if we can find him.

[00:01:42]We're going to see if we can find some of his friends, and see if, uh, we can hang out for the day.

[00:01:55]Mr. Lee, ni hao.

[00:01:59]Look at him now.

[00:02:38]So, Mr. Lee, these there seems to be very few ships here. You were saying there isn't a lot of work.

[00:02:46]How did it look before? What did these streets of Chongqing look like before?

[00:03:06]>> [music] >> So, we were at the wholesale market before. I thought that might be the best place to find some of these guys.

[00:03:34]But, Mr. Lee's actually taking us right down to the dock to where the cruises come in.

[00:03:40]And lo and behold, bonjour.

[00:03:48]How are you, sir?

[00:03:50]>> And then >> [laughter] >> okay, and one left for me. Look at that.

[00:04:05]Fantastic.

[00:04:13]So essentially doing the same thing that you do when you get off of a tourist bus. Hi, how are you?

[00:04:18]How you doing? You good? You come off the cruise?

[00:04:20]>> Yeah, we're going to find my TripADeal people.

[00:04:22]>> Uh TripADeal people, not sure, mate.

[00:04:31]When you ask these uh customers and you take to the city, how much do you how much do you charge?

[00:04:42]10 yuan per piece. So 10 10.

[00:05:15]Do you actually find people that are willing to allow you to carry them up the stairs?

[00:05:48]I'm too heavy.

[00:05:50]I'm 100 kg. I'm 100 kg.

[00:05:58]How how old are you, sir?

[00:06:06]And you think you can carry me?

[00:06:12]Yeah.

[00:06:14]I'll pay you so I'll pay you 100 you want now. You have to teach me. I want you to teach me how to carry it and we'll carry Hong Lin just for a few just for a couple of minutes.

[00:06:28]We'll just do it on here but you have to teach me.

[00:06:40]You just show me how.

[00:06:42]>> [laughter] >> Okay.

[00:06:52]So the Bang Bang men don't just make money from carrying luggage. They also make money from carrying literally people. I'm not I'm not going to have a go in the bloody seat cuz I'm not going to allow a 70-year-old man to carry me.

[00:07:04]I'll have a go.

[00:07:18]>> [laughter] >> I'm pretty tall.

[00:07:27]The thing is these guys, as you can see there isn't a single young man doing this job. It's all men 50, 60, sometimes even 70 years old.

[00:07:38]Okay, you can take it to the top and we'll pay you. I mean these men are 50, 60, 70 years old.

[00:07:43]And they've been doing this for absolute decades. Does this work affect your body? Have you ever been injured?

[00:07:54]How many trips do you make in a day like this? What's the most trips you've done in one day like this?

[00:08:04]How has it changed from 40 years ago to today?

[00:08:11]Why is there less work than today than there was 40 years ago?

[00:08:41]Anyone want to Anyone want to ride? 100 you want?

[00:08:43]100 you want up the stairs?

[00:08:45]100 you want up the stairs, guys? 100 you want up the stairs? You guys want to ride on the bang bang man?

[00:08:51]These jobs won't exist in 5 years, so you should support them while you can.

[00:08:56]You're supporting a dying job. It's excellent.

[00:08:59]Oh, no.

[00:09:02]So, it's now just chaos coming off the boat as the bang bang man try to get as much business as they can off of these guys.

[00:09:11]Looks like these ladies are struggling.

[00:09:18]>> [laughter] >> I'm actually surprised that these guys have lasted as long as they have because uh Oh, no.

[00:09:29]>> [laughter] >> It's a job that won't exist in a few years. You should get a ride.

[00:09:47]Support the dying jobs. These dying jobs won't exist in 5 years. Support them, please.

[00:09:53]>> [laughter] >> I'm trying to help these I'm trying to help these guys get a get some work.

[00:10:06]These jobs These jobs won't exist in 5 years. You should support them.

[00:10:11]>> [laughter] >> Yeah.

[00:10:17]So, are you guys going to be staying here for a while or are you going to be moving around the city? Where can we find you later on?

[00:10:29]Okay, you're the professional chair guy.

[00:10:32]Okay, we'll come and see you later on and we'll help you more. Bye-bye.

[00:10:35]Bye-bye.

[00:10:52]Okay.

[00:10:58]I don't know why we're on our knees.

[00:11:16]So, look, I'm in the incredibly lucky position to be able to travel around the world, tell stories like Mr. Lee's stories, getting bitten by mosquitoes, and get paid for it. And there's a certain moral dilemma that comes with that. It's like I am profiting off of documenting the lives of people that have a lot less than me. So, I've decided that I'm going to start giving back and each month I'll be giving a portion of my brand deal money to charities. And this month it's the Chongqing Charity Foundation. They've got a bunch of different really cool projects that they work across the city.

[00:11:49]So, that's what we'll be doing and uh this week it's going to be $2,000 this month is $2,000. So, I'm getting bitten by mosquitoes. $2,000 and none of it would be possible without sponsors like Ground News. Ground News is a website and app that pulls in thousands of news stories from around the world every day, organizing them by story and showing you the political bias, reliability, and ownership of every source, allowing you to see every angle in one place. For example, this week Donald Trump announced America would take over the Strait of Hormuz, calling it the guardian angel of the strait, and said the US should be paid for it. The New York Post reported it as Trump protecting the world's most important oil route. The New Republic called it a threat to blockade an international waterway. Same announcement, two very different stories. Ground News lets you compare those perspectives side by side so you can decide what's real and what's spin. With over 10,000 five-star reviews, Ground News is trusted by people who don't want to miss important stories just cuz they're inconvenient or underreported. So, don't get stuck in one narrative. Go to ground.news.com/mike or use the QR code on screen to get 40% off our unlimited access off their unlimited access advantage plan. See the bigger picture with Ground News.

[00:13:03]So, after this job is finished, how will you find your next job?

[00:13:16]What will you do in a few years when this work dies out? What will you do?

[00:13:30]>> This is a job that you've done for 40 years here in the city. How do you feel about having to leave?

[00:13:46]Do you see yourself as like different from regular Chongqing residents? How do you think these people see you like these tourists?

[00:14:21]So in case you didn't know, city of Chongqing is literally built into a mountain.

[00:14:27]So doing a job that requires you to walk up and down flights and flights of stairs, up and down hills at their age, is impressive, man.

[00:14:45]So Mr. Lee just got a call saying that he's got a job up at the wholesale market. So we're heading back there with him.

[00:15:01]Mr. Lee lost his job.

[00:15:04]Oh, no. When you get a call, is it like you need to race to the job? You need to get there as quick as you can, otherwise someone takes it.

[00:15:23]Bye.

[00:15:43]>> It seems like all of the bang bang men are elderly men, 50, 60, 70 years old.

[00:15:50]Why are there no young people doing the job?

[00:16:25]You know, in the '90s there were 500,000 people doing this job and now there are less than 2,000. Why is that?

[00:17:08]I ain't going to take anything.

[00:17:11]So send it there.

[00:17:15]You can >> So so many of these bong bong men, these delivery guys, they come from rural areas.

[00:17:52]So they would have moved here in the in the '90s, maybe even the '80s, looking for work, looking for a better life to send money home to their families. But not all of them have the sticks. Not all all of them have the bong bong sticks.

[00:18:34]How How How old are you, Mr. Lee?

[00:18:37]And do people worry about your health?

[00:18:40]Do people worry about your age doing this job?

[00:18:49]Have you ever had any accidents doing this?

[00:19:02]Can you show me your stick? Can you tell me the history about your stick?

[00:19:08]Do you want to use my >> So Mr. Lee's stick is 20 years old. It is probably older than many of the people watching this video, which is just insane. Do you think there's some kind of sentimental value behind this stick? Do you see it as like a companion or is it just a stick?

[00:20:20]So we just got a call from Mr. Lee. We were taking a little rest cuz we woke up at a silly silly o'clock in the morning, but we got a call from Mr. Lee saying he's got a job and we can join him, but we don't want to lose it. We don't want him to lose the job, so we're running.

[00:20:40]>> 5 minutes.

[00:20:41]>> 5 minutes.

[00:20:43]Just goes to show how dire the situation has got for some of these porters, some of these these carry men, these bang bang men. Ni hao. Ni hao.

[00:20:52]Ni hao. How are you, sir? You okay?

[00:20:54]That's um the jobs are so sparse.

[00:20:58]Mr. Lee has had two calls today. He missed the first one. This is the second one.

[00:21:02]And knowing that he's got a job feels like the gold rush. We've got to We've got to make it across town before we lose it.

[00:21:14]>> He also got got some orders from in this afternoon.

[00:21:18]>> Nice.

[00:21:21]I'll take your stick.

[00:21:25]You want me to leave your bamboo stick here? Or we can take it?

[00:21:28]Okay. Go on, Mr. Lee.

[00:21:35]Ooh, be careful, brother.

[00:21:38]Bloody hell.

[00:21:44]Do you think this has affected your body over time?

[00:21:55]How much do you think that weighs?

[00:21:57]Mr. Lee?

[00:22:01]>> Less than 50 kg.

[00:22:03]>> Less than 50, yeah.

[00:22:06]So, how much money did you make for that job?

[00:22:09]10 yuan for that journey, that's about a dollar 50 for about 5 or 6 minutes of walking from about halfway up that building.

[00:22:29]>> [laughter] >> Yes, yes.

[00:22:37]>> [clears throat] >> Is this Is this where you come every day?

[00:22:41]So, it's absolutely pissing it down with rain now.

[00:22:44]Does the weather affect your work? Do you still work when it's this when it's raining like this?

[00:22:58]Cheers, cheers, cheers.

[00:23:00]Ganbei, ganbei. How How has Chongqing changed in the last 30 40 years?

[00:23:19]China has advanced so quickly. These skyscrapers have just gone crazy. How do you feel about that change, the change of this city that you knew so well?

[00:24:29]>> I'm big, I'm big.

[00:25:49]>> Sorry.

[00:25:50]I was I used to be I used to work in TV and film on film sets. We would have to carry huge pieces of furniture, set set furniture, dressing for the set.

[00:26:04]So, uh it's kind of like before my YouTube days.

[00:26:10]We get to do some actual hard work for once.

[00:26:24]I mean, I can well imagine doing this 12 hours a day every day for 40 years in a city that's literally built on a mountain.

[00:26:44]It's not so much the uh it's not so much the weight.

[00:26:48]It's the technique of carrying it.

[00:26:52]Just kept slipping, and then my shoulder is cramping.

[00:26:56]Mr. Lee >> [laughter] >> Next time, I'll do the bang bang next time. Mr. Lee has got one one delivery left, one package left. He's going around the city dropping off packages, getting your 10 20 yuan. The bang bang men here in Chongqing are like a cultural pillar.

[00:27:21]And uh they're kind of invisible in a way.

[00:27:35]So so now uh Mr. Lee takes this and then gives it back to the back to the employer and then they pay him cash.

[00:27:43]Okay.

[00:27:49]All right.

[00:28:05]Guys, pissing it down with rain.

[00:28:08]Hong Lin and I are absolutely knackered.

[00:28:10]We've had the biggest three or four days ever.

[00:28:15]Um Mr. Lee has invited us to his home to drink with him and eat with him, where I'm hoping we can learn a little bit more about him and who he is.

[00:28:30]Yeah, Mr. Lee.

[00:28:32]Huh?

[00:28:40]I'm fine.

[00:28:41]The rain is okay. We're only We're taking the subway, right?

[00:29:25]>> Wow.

[00:29:29]Not a bad view for uh 500 yuan a month.

[00:29:49]How are you?

[00:29:50]>> [laughter] >> Okay.

[00:29:57]>> [laughter] >> Shh. Shh.

[00:30:18]>> [snorts] [snorts] >> Um nothing to do with you.

[00:31:02]>> Do you have any of your old military medals or photos that you could show us?

[00:31:25]It is so nice to be in the home of someone that that doesn't happen often in China to be invited to someone's home to eat with them.

[00:31:40]It smells about 55% baijiu.

[00:31:44]Smells like paint. Smells like paint stripper.

[00:32:01]>> [clears throat] >> Tastes like paint stripper, too. It's nice and strong, but it's very good.

[00:32:09]>> [laughter] >> What do you What does your family think about your work, Mr. Lee?

[00:32:29]That wine, the baijiu, is good.

[00:32:44]>> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[00:32:46]Thank you.

[00:32:46]>> [laughter] >> Uh paint stripper.

[00:33:53]Considering that you smoke cigarettes and you drink alcohol and you're 70 years old, I'm extremely impressed by it.

[00:34:14]How do the other people in Chongqing and the general public, how do they look at the bang bang men?

[00:34:20]Have you ever been treated badly?

[00:34:25]>> [clears throat] >> Mhm.

[00:34:34]How?

[00:34:37]>> I'll have a little bit more. I'll have a little bit more because I'm already quite drunk.

[00:34:52]>> [laughter] >> No, no, no, mayo, mayo. [clears throat] Xie xie. I'm I'm good. I'm good.

[00:35:15]>> [laughter] [laughter] >> I've had someone in your ear phone.

[00:36:26]>> No, no, no, male, male. Shush, yeah. I'm I'm good. I'm good. I honestly I'm full.

[00:36:31]What is this?

[00:36:32]>> You forget one meal.

[00:36:36]>> Little bit of smoked pork sausage to end the day.

[00:36:38]Oh, I dropped it on the floor.

[00:36:41]I dropped it on the bloody floor.

[00:36:43]Shush, yeah. Shush, yeah. I am good with chopsticks, I promise.

[00:36:46]If you could go back and start again, would you do it all again the same way?

[00:37:08]Thank you for inviting us into your home. And thank you for allowing us to tell your story. Thank you, Mr. Lee.

[00:37:21]Please take this. Buy some gifts for your grandchild, okay? Please >> [laughter] >> We are friends. It's okay. We're friends, but this is just I want you to buy some gifts for your grandchild.

[00:37:42]Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

[00:37:53]Thank you so much, Adam. Thank you so much.

[00:37:56]We'll be back again. We'll be back again. We'll be back again. Okay, see you. See you.

[00:38:02]Shush, yeah. Shush, yeah.

[00:38:05]Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Thank you, Mr. Lee.

[00:38:07]Thank you so much.

[00:38:09]Shush, yeah.

[00:38:15]Goodbye.

[00:38:17]The bang bang men are seen as the lowest of society. yet for centuries they've carried Chongqing on their shoulders, load by load up these hills to make it the city it is today.

[00:38:32]Now, they're being pushed out of the very city they helped build because the world, as always, moves forward.

[00:38:41]But one day, Chongqing will look back and the bang bang men are who it will miss.