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The Woman Pedicab Drivers

Wednesday, 12. 3. 2008  –  Category: Issue One, Neighborhood Beat, cover story, latest_stories, shantou highlight

This pages includes 3 stories of The Woman Pedicab Drivers, each page has a story:

• page 1:The Ride of Her Life: A tricycle fulfills an outlander’s dream
• page 2:The Woman Pedicab Driver
• page 3:A women pedal a pedicab for life

The Ride of Her Life:  A tricycle fulfills an outlander’s dream

When walking across the streets in Shantou, a great many tricycles—that have become an exotic feature of this special economic zone—will immediately come to your sight.

Among them, one stands out much more—in an overwhelmingly male gathering, a woman sits on her tricycle waiting for the next customer. Jiang Xia, from Anhui Province, has been carrying passengers around Shantou for almost two decades to support her daughter and two sons with her husband.

（Jiang Xia from Anhui province, waits to take passengers in her pedicab near Wal-Mart.）

“Actually, I have never thought that I would take up this job,” Xia says. “But it is more than a way to earn my living. It is a chance to realize my dream of being successful.”

“Aside from being more healthy and strong, my dream to make a living on my own and succeed in my career has come true thanks to my tricycle,” she adds.

In the late 1980s, having been in hospital for two or three months after wounded in a flood in her hometown, she was persuaded by her relatives to leave for Shantou where they work as cleaners.

Giving up the initial idea of selling home snacks near the railway station, she decided to carry passengers by means of a tricycle the moment she saw the handicapped ride on the street one day.

“However, at the very beginning, the local people looked down upon the tricycles because they considered them as tools for the disabled,” she sighed. “But I have spent more than 1,000 yuan on it. There is nothing to do but work hard on it.”

Recently, her 25-year-old daughter, who is a doctor after graduating from Tsinghua University, asked her to move to Beijing, but she refused to do so. “Naturally, I have been accustomed to the warmth here; more importantly, the local people and government make me reluctant to leave and quit my job here.”

“She should have a brighter future lead a comfortable life. I do not want her to spend much time and money in taking care of me,” she added.

“Everything here reminds me of the touched moment,” she continues, “On New Year’s Eve, a kind-hearted old lady gave me 100 Yuan when I took her home, then she said to me, ‘Hurry to go home and spend the New Year with your family,’ Happy tears sprang from my eyes.”

However, above all, it is the freedom and the sense of achievement that push her to continue her ride.

“Everyday, I can carry my passengers to their destination safely, like travels, feeling free.” There is no need for her to work in an exact or restricted time because she can adjust the time to her needs and begin during rush hours with respect to being her own boss.

“Also, even though I am not so rich now, I can feed my family by myself!” she says excitedly.

（Pedicab drivers wait for passengers outside a shopping center in downtown Shantou.）

Living in a building in Lane3, Changxia Village, Changxia Road, every day, she gets up early in the morning, prepares the breakfast and does the washing. She begins work after lunch and doesn’t go home until midnight without having dinner.

Now, the People’s Square is not her only choice. It is Wal-Mart, Tuopu, Chenghai, Walking Street and the bus terminal station that she will wait for more customers every day. “To be honest, I feel very, very thirsty during my busy rides, especially in the summer days. So, two bottles of medicinal herbal tea are necessary for me. They make me energetic!”

Unlike others, she keeps on carrying passengers to the destination in spite of the strong wind and the heavy rain, without more fees.

Even though sometimes a few unreasonably troublesome passengers complain that the seat makes them uncomfortable, or lose their temper with her, she never utters a word. “The customer is God, of course!” As a result, her responsible attitude increases the loyalty of passengers to her. A few regular customers keep on using her rather than others when they saw her.

“I am satisfied with my current income—30 or 40 Yuan a day, more than 10,000 Yuan a year—that at least is affordable to support my whole family,” she says with a smile.

“Every time the traffic policemen confiscate our tricycles, the governmental officials do us a favor and return them to us.” A smile passes across her rubicund face.

And she admits, with a grin, she will go back to her hometown to operate a snack bar in several years, maintaining her dream.

After that, she operates the engine, pedals her tricycle and carries her passenger ahead.

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