Farewell to ferryman

Loyalty to the job and villagers has kept Fan Xiandi on boat despite tough work conditions.

On a hazy winter morning, Fan Xiandi untied the docking lines of a ferry, plunged a pole into the water and shoved the boat off the dock. The 53-year-old is one of the disappearing ferrymen in China.

This is Fan's 32nd year ferrying villagers across the winding Nanpu creek in East China's Fujian province, and also the last year of his boating life.

With a dark craggy face covered in gray bristles, the weather-beaten man looks much older than he is. Long hours of physical work have caused his hands to crack and form thick calluses.

Those hands have helped ferry over 100,000 passengers home safely and saved six lives in the river separating Caocun and Zhudun villages during his years of service.

Crossing the 200-meter wide creek by ferry takes 15 minutes, saving the locals the trouble of taking a detour of several kilometers to the other bank.

Fan took over the ferry when he was 21 years old after his predecessor quit the job due to the poor pay, long working hours, and hard work.

With a monthly salary of 1,500 yuan ($222) paid by the village, Fan could barely get by. However, he took the job because "someone had to operate the boat".

In the early years of the job, Fan worked from dawn to dusk.

During festival periods, hundreds of villagers would wait to board the ferry to get to the other side of the river. Fan had to bring his own lunch on board during busy days, and even brought his pajamas when the travel rush was at its peak.

As time went on, the little children that he used to ferry to school grew up and moved to different cities. However, Fan was still trapped on the boat.

Over the years, he has used seven boats from wooden sampans to steel ones.

Despite the meager salary, the ferryman never accepted any gratuity. Some villagers express their appreciation to him, while others have given him old clothes.