"Bangbang (porter)", also known as “Lifu” or “Lige” in Chongqing, has a long career history, which is closely related to the topography of this mountain city and the port economy. Recently, the special topic "Bangbang" in the book Chongqing Urban Development Trilogy has attracted attention again. It has collected the porters in Chongqing for more than 100 years with video records, then water porters, stevedores in Chaotianmen Port after the founding of People’s Republic of China and current porters.

Although names are different, they are all jobs that need to earn money by strength. With the passage of time and social development, the goods they carry on their shoulders are constantly changing, but the spirit of carrying the load forward and climbing over the hill remains the same.

The earliest images of porters

In special topic Bangbang of Forever Chaotianmen, the earliest image of porters recorded two porters carrying cotton from Chongqing to Chengdu and a porter with heavy goods on his back. These photos were collected by the Planning And Exhibition Team of Chongqing Urban Development Trilogy from abroad. The photographers were all foreigners, and the shooting time was around the opening of Chongqing Port.

Before the Chongqing Port was opened, due to the inconvenience of transportation, many goods were carried on people's shoulders. After the opening of the port, the entry of commerce and ships increased the volume of material transactions, and a large number of rural surplus labor force entered the city to make a living. In this case, after rural men enter the city, they often started from being a porter, accumulated the original capital, and then transferred to the small handicraft industry.

Water porters in Xu Beihong’s painting

After the opening of the port, Chongqing's urban scale has been expanded and its population has been growing rapidly. Due to the hard geology of the mountain city, it was inconvenient to dig wells, which led to the serious lack of domestic water in the city although Chongqing is surrounded by two rivers. Therefore, there appeared a special job in Chongqing － water porter. They delivered water for urban residents by shoulder poles. At its peak, the number of water porters reached 20,000.

The realistic masterpiece Ba People Carrying Water was a true portrayal of this kind of work created by Xu Beihong in 1938, who lived in Chongqing during the Anti-Japanese War.

In addition to water porters, Chongqing ushered in the period with a larger scale of development during the Anti Japanese war. At that time, there were such strong men who relied on their strength to survive by carrying water, carrying goods and carrying poles and sedans.

Porters were proud of becoming “stevedores”

After 1949, Lifu, who had a low social status, became workers. The book Forever Chaotianmen also contained oral materials of workers working in Chaotianmen at that time.

At that time, stevedores were all wearing the vest with the word "Stevedore". After wearing the vest, they were very proud. Their access to the factories was unimpeded. This vest meant the work card, ID card, and status. It marked the improvement of the status of stevedores, so they were very proud of it.

“Bangbang” gradually disappeared, but the spirit of diligence and self-reliance remained

The emergence of "Bangbang" on a large scale in Chongqing began in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1997, Chongqing dialect TV series "Bangbang in the Mountain City" made "Bangbang" famous all over the whole country.

In the Forever Chaotianmen, there was a group of photos with the theme of "Run! Bangbang". The hero of the story was Li Wenyin, who was one of the common porters in Chaotianmen. Li Wenyin, who has been struggling in Chaotianmen for 20 years, bought a house near Chaotianmen. His family have already left the countryside. His son and grandson are both in Chongqing and become real urban residents.

In recent years, due to the continuous innovation of transportation mode and the rise of online shopping, Chongqing "Bangbang" gradually disappeared. Although the profession is disappearing, the spirit of diligence and self-reliance has been recognized by Chongqing people. (Translated by Luo Juan, Fathom Language Limited)

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